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A BIBLICAL HISTORY 
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Sketch Map oF PALEestInE, SHEWING PHYSICAL FEATURES. 


A BRIEF 
BIBLICAL HISTORY 


OLD TESTAMENT 


BY REVEREND PROFESSOR 
F. J. FOAKES-JACKSON, D.D. 


FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND HON. CANON OF 
PETERBOROUGH, BRIGG’S GRADUATE PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN 
INSTITUTIONS IN UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 

NEW YORK. 


Author of “The Biblical History of the Hebrews to the 
Christian Era,’ “A Brief Biblical History— 
New Testament,’ etc. 


NEW YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 





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PREFACE. 


The need for a compendious account of the history 
of the Hebrews under the old dispensation is as 
imperative as it is difficult to satisfy; and this work 
is designed as an attempt in this direction. I have 
employed as its basis the third edition of my 
Biblical History of the Hebrews, which with the 
aid of Mr. S. STEWART SfitT I have endeavoured 
to adapt for the purpose. With this end in view, we 
have eliminated those portions which appear to be 
unsuitable for beginners, and the rest is practically 
rewritten with the object of presenting as continuous 
a narrative as possible. In order further to assist 
the student in revising his work, a Summary has 
been added to each chapter; and to secure attention 
to the actual words of Scripture, these have been 
printed in italics. Thus the general design of the 
work is to form an introduction to the study of the 


history of the Hebrews, with the object of inducing 


prs grew ge ea 
Pr I ey Ge! A 
rete be re re) 


vi PREFACE. 


the young student to betake himself to the narrative 


of Scripture. 


I must express my gratitude to Mr. ROBERT 
WALLIS for the care he has taken in reading the 


proofs and verifying the references. 


JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
March, 19172. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Religious education is one of the many problems of 
our day, and nowhere is the difficulty more acute than in 
the case of the Old Testament. Under no circumstances 
is it an easy task to arrange the different component 
parts of a volume so varied in such a manner as to give 
a young student a clear idea of its meaning and purpose. 
Isolated stories may arouse interest, but their connexion 
with the rest is not very obvious. Here and there a 
psalm or prophecy may touch the heart; but it stands 
as a thing apart, without anything to account for its 
origin. Not unfrequently, moreover, in the course of 
instruction in a particular book we meet with narratives 
apparently unedifying, or sentiments which are certainly 
not in accord with the highest views to-day. 

There is the further difficulty of answering questions 
like “Is such an account true?” “Is this or that 
statement in accordance with what we are taught in a 
lesson on science or geography?” “Do people really 
believe this?”? For youth is a season of credulous 
scepticism. A child will accept much on authority, and 
at the same time is ready with questions going to the 
very root of a matter. He also possesses an instinctive 
power of detecting that the teacher is himself doubtful 
as to the facts on which he is insisting. 

It is therefore a hazardous and even fatal experiment 
to attempt to teach the Old Testament in a hard literal 


viii INTRODUCTION. 


manner, and deliberately to ignore its many difficulties, 
Equally so is it to claim for all its narratives an authority 
and accuracy in every point which cannot be proved. 
Far better is it to take the learner from the first, as it 
were, into our confidence, and to admit at once that 
there are difficulties, formidable indeed, but not insur- 
mountable. : 

These may be ranged under the heads of (a) Moral, 
(b) Critical, whilst the third raises (c) the question of 
the Miraculous. 

(z) In dealing with moral questions, there are, as 
everybody must acknowledge, certain episodes recorded 
in the Bible to which it is scarcely desirable to draw 
attention. But there are besides many acts and words 
attributed to the “saints” of the Old Testament which 
must be justly reprobated. In such cases it seems desir- 
able, not only to remind the pupil that we live under a 
very different dispensation, but also to endeavour to set 
before him the conditions of life in primitive times in 
the East. Let the teacher picture a Jacob as a man of 
peaceful habits, living among men who had no scruple in 
taking his life if provoked, and his “ craft”, though not 
excusable, is perfectly natural and comprehensible as his 
only weapon of defence. Let him, when condemning 
the serious failings of a David, not fail to point out that 
part of his life was spent among desperate outlaws, and 
how great and just a man he was considering the 
circumstances of his eventful career. 

(b) Criticism has seriously questioned not only the 
date, but the historical character of many records, and it 
cannot be wholly ignored by teachers. To trouble young 
students with details is undesirable, but it may be well to 


INTRODUCTION. ix 


give them some idea of the questions at issue. Now 
and then a double narrative, like that of Creation or the 
Flood, may be brought to their notice, as well as such 
elementary facts as the late date of the Mosaic Law in 
its present form as acode. It may also safely be indi- 
cated that certain episodes are related for purposes of 
edification, rather than in the spirit of what is now termed 
“scientific history’. 

(c) So-called “miraculous” events require much judg- 
ment in their presentation; and it appears necessary to 
explain to our students that, whilst the belief in some 
was due to ignorance of what to us is perfectly natural, 
the truth that in the Old Testament we have presented 
the working of God’s purposes in human affairs must 
never be allowed to be forgotten. 

The importance of making the Old Testament inter- 
esting to the student cannot be disregarded. With our 
system of encouraging religious knowledge by examina- 
tion, the Bible is liable to be regarded as a book to be 
crammed up, and a lesson often becomes the presentation 
of facts to be committed to memory. It is most desir- 
able that the Old Testament should be shewn to be a 
book which can stimulate interest and appeal to the 
imagination of the young student. The geographical 
situation of Palestine, and the part the country has 
played in history, the features of the land, more diversi- 
fied, perhaps, than in any territory of similar size, are, 
if properly presented, sure to make Hebrew history of 
more living interest to the intelligent boy or girl. 

Archaeology has also its part to play. The great 
struggle of the saints of Israel was, to take but one 
example, against idolatry. But this cannot appeal to the 


x INTRODUCTION. 


imagination of a child born in a land like our own. Let 
the excavations of Gezer or Taanach reveal of what 
kind the religion of the Canaanites actually was—its 
grossness and its cruelty—and it is easy to understand 
what animated the “saints” of old and provoked their 
indignation. | 

Above all things it is necessary to insist upon the 
value of the Old Testament as a religious book. To do 
this it is necessary to shew what the teaching and 
example of judge and priest, king and prophet, was to 
their contemporaries, and what it may mean to us. 
Under completely different conditions of life and en- 
lightenment, we may surely learn ourselves from the Old 
Testament, and impart to others, the great truth so 
necessary to impress upon the rising generation, that 
above ali things it is “righteousness which exalteth a 


nation ’’. 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE ... 


INTRODUCTION Nee a3 ry She 


CHAPTER GI: 


Primitive History ... 


CHAPTER) Il; 
Abraham 


CHAPIN iit: 


Isaac and Jacob 


CHAPTER IV. 
Israel in Egypt 


CHAPTER -V. 


The Flight of Israel, and the Wanderings, up to Sinai ... 


CHAPTER VI. 


The Covenant; the Tabernacle; Israel’s Apostasy 


CHAPTER VII. 


From Sinai to the Death of Moses 


PAGE 


Vil 


15 


22 


32 


37 


44 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


The Conquest of Canaan 


CHAPTER IX. 


The Period of the Judges 


CHAPTER X, 


Prophet, Priest, and King 


The Reign of Saul 


The Reign of David: 


The Reign of David: 


CHAPTER XI. . 


CHAPTER XII. 


his Prosperity 


CHAPTER XIII. 


his Adversity... 


CHAPTER XIV. 


The Reign of Solomon 


The Disruption of the Kingdom, and the Baal Worship... 


[The Reigns of Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, kings of 
Judah; and of Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, 


CHAPTER XV. 


Zimri, Omri, kings of Israel. ] 


The Strife between the Worshippers of Baal and of 


Jehovah. [Elijah] 


CHAPTER XVI. 


PAGE 


oo 


61 


73 


114 


121 


He Pek bs") 


“A 


CONTENTS. xiil 


CHAPTER XVII. 


PAGE 
Ahab and his Syrian Wars... or ic: ‘) ey a tele: 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
Elisha and the House of Jehu... 0 wa a ah 40 
CHAPTER XIX. 
How the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah became involved 
with Assyria ... ate ee aes As ape aay) oe He 
CHAPTERGXAX. 
Ahaz and the Fall of Samaria ... ate ¥ me ‘ee i Mole: 
CHAPTER XxXI. 
Hezekiah - ... US ae ys ne oe he NE SO 
CHAPTER XXII. 
The Last Days of the Kingdom of Judah ... re Seay tae 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
The Captivity ane Ae es me ue Ee NLS 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
The Return, and the Settlement in Judah ... Ss Seis bees! 
CHAPTER XXV. 
The Geography of Palestine ... nA abs is SeLose 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


Light thrown on the History of the Hebrews by Recent 
Discoveries... a ae on Se oe Ree ae 40 


CONTENTS. 


xiv 
PAGE 

TABLES prs se me et, +4; wise eee oes 0201 

1. The Descendants of Terah and Abraham, 

2. The chief Festivals and Holy Seasons. 

3. Sacrifices. 

4. Kings of Israel and Judah. 

5. Priests and Prophets. 

6. Leading Dates in Assyrian, Babylonian, and Per- 

sian History. 

INDEX 209 


CHAP LER, of. 


PRIMITIVE HISTORY. 
Genesis I.—xXI. 


When the Hebrews emerge into the 
full light of history we find them in 
possession of a series of remarkable 
traditions, extending back to the Creation of the world. 
Most of these state that the original home of the human 
race was somewhere near the banks of the Euphrates 
and Tigris, and that the Hebrews were the offshoot of a 
nation that made its home in Babylonia. In this 
country therefore the scene of the first eleven chapters 
of Genesis is laid. 

Modern scholars have discovered many ancient 
traditions which are very interesting when compared 
with those in the Old Testament, as they tend to prove 
that many of the stories in the first eleven chapters of 
Genesis had a Babylonian origin, and were originally 
current among people who worshipped many gods. But 
the writers to whom we owe their preservation in Scrip- 
ture worshipped but one God, and attributed all things 
to Jehovah, the God of Israel. 

There are two narratives of the Crea- 
tion in Genesis; for in the middle of the 
fourth verse of the second chapter we 
have another account, which is probably earlier than that 
in Genesis 1. 

The first chapter is far more orderly in arrangement 
than the second. Notice, for example, how the “ days” 
of Creation are grouped in pairs. 


Isvaclitish 
traditions. 


The 
Creation. 


B 


2 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cu. I. 


Ist Day ) PAS Light from Darkness. 
2nd Day) abet eee from Waters. 

3rd Day Inanimate The Dry Land and Plants. 
4th Day Nature RAS Heavenly Luminaries. 
5th Day) — Animate nee and Fishes. 

6th Day }) Nature Beasts and MAN. 

In the account in the second chapter 
we find that the earth is described as 
hard and dry because no rain had as yet 
fallen, and there was no one to till it, till man (Adam) 
was formed out of the dust of the ground, and a 
garden planted in Eden for his habitation. From 
this delightful spot issued a stream, from which flowed 
the four great rivers of the world—Pison, Gihon, Hid- 
dekel, and Euphrates. There stood the tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. As the 
man was alone the beasts were formed to be his com- 
panions, but none of them was suitable. Jehovah there- 
fore caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and woman 
was taken from his side. The Serpent, the craftiest of 
all beasts, persuaded the woman to eat of the forbidden 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Thus did man 
fall, and was cast out of Eden to till the ground, which 
for his sake was accursed. He was not, however, bereft 
of all hope; for an assurance was given that the Seed of 
the woman would bruise the Serpent’s head. 

In the story of the two sons of Adam, 

Cain and : i ; 

nei Cain and Abel, Cain is described as a 
tiller of the ground, and Abel as a keeper 

of sheep. Sacrifice is already the natural mode of 
worship. Cain was offering of the fruit of the ground, 
Abel of his flock. Abel’s offering was accepted. Cain 
was deeply offended at the rejection of his sacrifice. His 
countenance fell. Jehovah is represented as reason- 
ing with him: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be 
accepted ? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at 


The Fall of 
Man, 


CH. I.] PRIMITIVE HISTORY. 3 


the door, desiring to reduce his victim to subjection. 
Yet sin can be overcome: Thou shalt rule over 
him. But Cain disregarded the Divine warning, 
enticed Abel into the field and slew him. So Jehovah 
appeared and told the murderer, The votce of thy 
brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground. Cain 
feared that men would avenge his brother’s death, so 
Jehovah set a “mark” upon him, or possibly “gave 
him a sign”, lest any finding him should kill him. 
(Gen. iv. 15.) 

After this Cain is said to have hada son called Enoch, 
and to have founded a city, cailed after his son, in the 
land of Nod, east of Eden. (Gen. iv. 16-17.) 

As many difficult questions have been 
asked in connection with this story, such 
as ‘‘Who was Cain’s wife, if, as seems to be implied, 
only Adam, Eve, and their sons inhabited the world?” 
we must bear in mind that when the Hebrews left their 
ancient home they brought with them many traditions of 
the past history of their race. When these ancient 
stories were committed to writing, the writers desired to 
trace in everything the work of Jehovah, the God of Israel. 
Their motive seems to have been to inculcate the duty of 
resisting sin and the character of true sacrifice. 

They may have further wished to demonstrate that 
murder was one of the many terrible effects of the Fall. 

Thus the story of Cain and Abel may be one detached 
from its original context. It is possible that it was 
originally written to account for the hostility between 
the wandering peoples and the tillers of the soil; but as 
it stands, it is intended to teach the lessons we have 
indicated. 


Difficulties. 


A descendant of Cain, named Lamech, 
had two wives and three sons, besides a 
daughter of whom we know nothing 
except her name, Naamah. The sons were the inventors 


Lamech and 
his sons. 


4 - BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cu. 1 


of the arts of life, or, as they are styled, the “fathers” 
of the various callings of mankind. Jabal was the 
“father” of those who dwell in tents and have cattle, 
and Jubal of musicians. Tubal-Cain instructed the 
workers in brass and iron. Perhaps the “song” of 
Lamech to his wives (Gen. iv. 23, 24) celebrates the in- 
vention of the sword by this last-named son. 

When we come to the story of the 
Flood we have a twofold account, just as 
we have in the story of Creation. 

The earliest Hebrew narrative tells us that as man 
multiplied he became sinful. The sons of God (elohim) 
seeing that the daughters of men were fair, took them to 
wife, and a race of “giants”? was born who had the 
presumption to defy Jehovah. (Gen. vi. 1-7.) At last 
the wickedness of mankind became so great that 
Jehovah determined to destroy the world. One pious 
man, Noah, found grace in His eyes. He was com- 
manded to take the clean animals by sevens, and the 
others by pairs, and to enter an ark with his wife, his 
sons and their wives. Jehovah shut the door of the Ark, 
and a flood ensued lasting forty days. At the end of this 
time Noah sent forth a raven and a dove; the latter re- 
turned, and seven days later Noah sent her out again, 
and she came back with an olive leaf. Again Noah 
waited seven days before he released the dove, and this 
time he saw her no more. He then removed the cover- 
ing of the Ark and found that the ground was dry. He 
came forth from the Ark and offered sacrifice. Jehovah 
smelled the savour, and said in His heart, I will not 
curse the ground any more for man’s sake, for that the 
imagination of man’s heart 1s evil from his youth. 
(Gen. vi., vii., viii.) 

When we turn to the second Flood narrative in the 
Bible, we find a detailed account of the building of the 
Ark, and its measurements. A covenant is promised; 


The Flood. 


GH. T.} PRIMITIVE HISTORY: 5 


Noah is ordered to take two of each sort of animal (no 
distinction being made between clean and unclean) and 
to provide food. His age is given, as also the exact day 
of the month on which the Flood began, as well as the 
fact that it lasted a year. The cause of the Flood is said 
to have been the opening of the windows of heaven, 
and the breaking up of the fountains of the Great 
Deep. Dates are given for the day on which the waters 
were dried up, and the depth of the water when at its 
height is stated. The covenant is given to Noah, and the 
bow is placed in the cloud as a sign that there shall not 
again be a universal flood. 

Noah’s three sons were Shem, Ham, 
and Japheth. Noah is said to have planted 
the vine; and in his sleep his younger 
son, Ham, treated his aged father with disrespect, 
while Shem and Japheth shewed him a more be- 
coming reverence. When the patriarch awoke from 
his wine, he blessed Shem and Japheth, but cursed 
Canaan, the son of Ham, in the following words :— 

Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shail 
he be unto his brethren. Blessed be the Lord God of 
Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall 
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of 
Shem; and Canaan shill be his servant. (Gen. ix. 


25-27.) 


The Curse of 
Canaan. 


Genesis x. gives us the geographical 
ideas of the early Hebrews, who divided 
the world into three divisions, each peopled 
by descendants of a son of Noah. 

(1) Under the “sons of Japheth’” we find the 
northern nations and those who lived in the 
coasts or “ isles”? west of Palestine. 

(2) Ham is the ancestor of the southern nations 
of the world, such as the Egyptians, the 
Canaanites, and the Ethiopians. 


Ancient 
Geography. 


6 . BIBLICAL HISTORY. FOR. |r. 


(3) Shem is the ancestor of the nations akin to the 
Hebrews, who claim to have sprung from 
Shem’s third son, Arpachshad. 
Ra: The children of men were at first all of 
The Building 

of Babel. © one language. They went together to the 
plain of Shinar, where they learned to 
use bricks instead of stone, and decided to build a city 
and a tower, in order that they might never be scattered 
abroad. But Jehovah came down to see the city and the 
tower, and declared that there was no end to human pre- 
sumption. To prevent the completion of the city He 
confounded men’s language, so that they could no more 
understand one another. So mankind was dispersed, and 
the city was called Babel, or Babylon, for the words are 

the same. (Gen. xi. 1-9.) 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) The Hebrews brought their traditions from Baby- 
lonia. 

(2.) There are two narratives of the Creation and of the 
Flood. 

(3.) The story of Cain and Abel probably comes from a 
different source. 

(4.) All have one purpose, viz., to inculcate the Unity of 
God, the heinousness of sin, and the need of 
repentance. 

(5.) The world as known to the Hebrews divided among 
the sons of Noah. 

(6.) The building of Babel (Babylon). 


CHAPTER: IT 


—_—_——_-_______~ 


ABRAHAM. 


Genesis XII.—xxv. 10. 


The opening chapters of Genesis deal with the nations 
of the world known to the inhabitants of Western Asia. 
In them the history of mankind is traced from the garden 
to the city ; from innocence and peace to confusion and 
division ; from Eden to Babel. 

In the twelfth and following chapters we are given an 
account, not of nations, but of individuals who became 
the ancestors of the chosen people of Jehovah. 

It is not clear where the first call came to Abram 
(or Abraham as he was afterwards called), whether in Ur 
of the Chaldees (Gen. xi. 28),in Mesopotamia (Acts vii. 2), 
or at Haran (Gen. xii. 4). 

We know, however, that he became a wanderer in 
obedience to a Divine Call, and that in company with his 
wife Sarai or Sarah, and Lot, his brother’s son, he crossed 
the Euphrates and journeyed to the land of Canaan. 
The rest of his family remained settled in Paddan-Aram 
in Mesopotamia, the city of Nahor. (Gen. xxiv. 10.) 

} On his arrival in Canaan he halted at 

Abraham in the Oak of Moreh near Shechem, where 

Canaan and f 

Egypt; he erected an altar to Jehovah, and did 

the same between Bethel and Ai. Owing 

to stress of famine he went down to Egypt, where he 
shewed what seems to us an unaccountable want of 
faith. Dreading lest Pharaoh should kill him for 
the sake of Sarai his wife, he made her call herself 
his sister. But the truth was revealed by signs of 


8 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cH. 1. 


God’s displeasure with Egypt. (Gen. xii. 10-20.) We 
are told he was guilty of the same fault some years 
later, when he dwelt with Abimelech, king of Gerar. 
(Gen. xx.) 

On his return to Canaan, Abraham went 
to Bethel. Here a strife arose between the 
herdsmen of Abraham and the herdsmen 
of Lot, as their flocks were by this time too great to 
pasture together. So for the sake of peace, Abraham 
proposed they should separate after dividing the land 
between them. He offered the choice to his nephew; 
and Lot, regarding the rich soil of the Jordan valley as 
affording wealth and ease, decided to go thither, notwith- 
standing the fact that the men of Sodom were sinners 
before Jehovah. After Lot’s departure Abraham went and 
dwelt in Hebron, where God renewed His promise that 
the land should belong to his seed. 

At this point it would be well to inter- 
ambit of +upt for a while the course of the narra- 

SNe tive, in order that we may trace the 

gradual and progressive character of 
God’s revelation to Abraham as shewn forth in the eight 
promises made to him. For it was only by degrees 
that the patriarch learned the destiny in store for his 
posterity. 

The promises are as follows :— 

(1) When Jehovah told him to leave his father's 
house, He promised 
(a) he should be a great nation, and 
(b) that in him should all the families of the 
earth be blessed. (Gen. xii. 1-2.) 
(2) On his arrival in Canaan, he was told that this 
was the land promised to his seed. (Gen. xii. 7.) 
(3) At Hebron, after Abraham’s separation from 
Lot, this promise was renewed. (Gen. xiii. 
14-15.) 


Separates 
from Lot. 


CH, II] ABRAHAM. 9° 


(4) After the defeat of Chedorlaomer, Abraham 
was told that his own son should inherit the 
land. We are told here that Abraham’s faith 
was counted to him for righteousness. 
(Gen. xv. 6.) | 
(5) Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael 
(az) the covenant of circumcision was given, 
(b) the names Abram and Sarai were changed to 
Abraham and Sarah, 

(c) a son was promised to Sarah, who should be 
called Isaac (possibly Isaac-el, God laughs: 
so Jacob-el, Joseph-el). (Gen. xvii.) 

(6) This last promise was repeated by the three 
Angels. On this occasion Sarah laughed at the 
thought of one as old as she was having a son. 
(Gen. xviii.) 

(7) When Hagar and Ishmael were cast forth, 
Abraham was told, 12 Isaac shall thy seed 
be called. (Gen. xxi. 12.) 

(8) At the time of the offering of Isaac ‘promises 
were repeated in an even stronger form, because 
Abraham had not withheld his only son from 
Jehovah. (Gen. xxii. 16-18.) 

Some time after Lot had settled in the 
land of Sodom, Chedorlaomer, king of 
Elam, and his allies invaded Canaan and 
defeated the five kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, 
Zeboim, and Zoar, in the Vale of Siddim, north of the 
Dead Sea. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were 
slain, and Lot was carried away captive. Laden with 
spoil, the allies proceeded northwards till they were 
overtaken by Abraham at Dan, who defeated them and 
recovered Lot and the spoil. On his return the king of 
Sodom met Abraham, and as a reward offered him the 
spoil. This Abraham refused, lest he should say, I 
have made Abraham rich. (Gen. xiv. 23.) He was 


Invasion of 
Chedorlaomer. 


10 _ BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cH. II. 


also met at this time by Melchizedek, king of Salem, 
priest of the Most High God, who brought forth bread 
and wine and blessed him. Abraham in return gave 
him tithes of all. (Gen. xiv. 17-20.) 

Jehovah next made a covenant with 
Abraham, and promised that his son 
should inherit the Land. (Gen. xv.) A 
son (Ishmael) was accordingly born by his handmaid, 
Hagar the Egyptian, when he was eighty-six years of 
age, and had been ten years in the land of Canaan. 
As, however, Sarai was jealous of Hagar, and dealt 
hardly with her, before the child was born his mother 
fled to the wilderness, where she was found by an angel 
near a fountain of water, who told her to return to her mis- 
tress, saying the son she was about to bear would be @ 
wild man, his hand against every man, and every 
man’s hand against him, and that he would be the 
father of a great multitude. Hagar returned, after 
calling the well Beer-lahai-roi (the well of the Living 
God that sees me). In due time her son was born, and 
she called him Ishmael (God hears), as the angel had 
commanded her. ‘Thirteen years after his birth the 
covenant of circumcision was given, the names Abram 
and Sarai were changed to Abraham and Sarah, and a 
son was promised to Sarah. 

After this three men appeared to Abra- 
ham in the plains of Mamre as he sat in 
his tent door in the heat of the day, who promised that 
Sarah should havea son. Sarah was reproved for having 
laughed because she thought she was too old. Where- 
fore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear 
a child, which am old? Is anything too hard for the 
Lord? (Gen. xviii. 13, 14.) 

In this way the birth of Isaac was foretold; and the 
child was borne by Sarah when Abraham was one hundred 
years old. When thechild was weaned Abraham made a 


Birth of 
Ishmael. 


Birth of Isaac. 


GH? 11.] ABRAHAM. 11 


great feast. On this occasion Sarah is said to have seen 
Ishmael the son of Hagar mocking the infant Isaac, and 
she exhorted Abraham to cast out the bondwoman and 
her son. This thing was very grievous in his sight, but 
God comforted him by telling him that 72 Isaac should 
his seed be called, but that He would also make of the 
son of the bondwoman a nation, because he is thy 
seed. (Gen. xxi. 13.) 

Abraham accordingly sent Hagar and 
Ishmael with some provisions into the 
wilderness of Beersheba. When their 
supply of water was exhausted, the boy lay down to die 
of thirst; but an angel shewed his mother a well of 
water, and also promised her son should be a great nation. 
We are told that he afterwards dwelt in the wilderness 
of Paran, that he became an archer, and that he married 
an Egyptian wife. Twelve tribes are said to have 
sprung from Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 12ff.), who is generally 
regarded as the ancestor of the Arabs. 

The men who foretold the birth of 

Lot escapes e344 also told Abraham of the impend- 
from the Cities | ie 

of the Plain, 12g doom of Sodom and the cities of the 

plain, for their sin was very grievous. 
(Gen. xviii. 20.) Abraham interceded for them, and 
obtained the Divine promise that He would not destroy 
Sodom if He found even ten righteous men therein. But 
even this could not save the doomed cities, and only Lot, 
his wife, and his two daughters were delivered from Sodom, 
and told to escape for their lives; and Zoar, at Lot’s 
entreaty, was spared. Just after he had entered Zoar, 
the Lord rained down fire and brimstone from heaven 
and utterly destroyed the cities of the plain. Lot’s wife, 
however, looked back, and became a pillar of salt. 
(Gen. xix. 26.) Ona mountain near Zoar, Lot begat two 
sons, Moab and Ammon, from whom were descended the 
Moabites and Ammonites. 


Ishmael is 
driven out. 


12 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [cH. 11. 


We now come to the story of the last 
and final test of Abraham’s faith. And tt 
came to pass after these things, that God 
did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham ; 
and he said, Behold, here I am. And He said, Take 
now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, 
and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him 
there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains 
which I will tell thee of. (Gen. xxii. 1, 2.) 

And so the story goes on, telling in touching and 
simple language of the submission of the father to this 
awful test, and of the humble submission of the son to 
his father’s will. How the sacrificial knife was already 
raised to slay, how the angel intervened at the last 
moment, and how a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns, 
was offered instead of his son. 

The promise was renewed for the eighth and last time, 
even more emphatically than before: and Abraham re- 
turned to Beersheba, but not before he had called the 
place where he had been so sorely tried, Jehovah-Jireh 
(The Lord will provide). 

The next important event in our narra- 
tive is the death of Sarah. This was the 
occasion of Abraham buying the field and 
cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite, as a burying 
place for himself and his descendants. This was the only 
spot owned by him in the Promised Land. 

At last we come to the end of Abra- 
ham’s long and eventful life, when the 
aged patriarch sent his faithful steward 
to Mesopotamia, his ancient home, to choose a wife 
for Isaac. 

The servant, after swearing a solemn oath to be 
faithful to his trust, departed, and on his arrival at the 
city of Nahor in Mesopotamia, made his camels kneel 
down without the city walls by a well. He prayed to 


Offering of 
Isaac. 


Death of 
Sarah. 


Isaac marries 
Rebekah. 


CH. I1.] ABRAHAM. 13 


the Lord God of his master Abraham that the damsel 
who acceded to his request that she should water his 
camels should be the one chosen to be Isaac’s bride. 

Rebekah, the daughter of Milcah the wife of Nahor, 
Abraham’s brother, came in answer to his prayer, satis- 
fied the test, and consented to come back with him. 
Isaac met her on their return, and took her to wife. 
(Gen. xxiv.) 

It must, however, be carefully borne 
in mind that in the Old Testament story, 
Abraham is treated of not only as a man, 
but also as the progenitor of many tribes. Thus we have 
the story of Ishmael and of the twelve tribes of which 
he was ancestor. And we are also told of the marriage 
of Abraham with Keturah (Gen. xxv. 1-6), which appar- 
ently signifies that the tribes of the Eastern deserts were, 
when the book Genesis was written, considered as dis- 
tant kinsmen of the races descended from Isaac and 
Ishmael. } 

It is an important fact that so exclusive a people as 
Israel should emphasise the fact that so many neigh- 
bouring peoples sprang from Abraham, the father of their 
faith; and when at the present day we see how Christians, 
Jews, and Mahommedans all trace their spiritual origin 
to the same source, we can indeed see the fulfilment of 
the Divine promise that his seed should be as the stars 
for multitude. 

In all succeeding ages Abraham has been regarded as 
the great ideal of the race of Israel, to whom the Israelites 
ascribed the beginnings of their religious knowledge. It 
was the God of Abraham Whom Isaac and Jacob served. 
It was the God of Abraham Who appeared to Moses in 
the Burning Bush, and to Whom Elijah prayed on Mount 
Carmel. It was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 
of Whom our Lord testified that He was the God not of 
the dead but of the living. 


Abraham’s 
Descendants. 


14 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cH. II. 


In a word, those who lived before and those who lived 
after the Exile agree in regarding Abraham as the great- 
est of men, the model of piety to every Israelite. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) The difference between the first eleven chapters of 
Genesis and those which follow lies in the fact, 
that while the former give an account of nations, 
the twelfth and following chapters deal with 
individuals who became the ancestors of God’s 
chosen people. 

(2.) We gather from what we know of the life of Abraham 
that he was 

(a) A wanderer by conviction, the first example 
of faith in God. 

(b) That at least twice his faith failed him, 7.e. 
(a) in his visit to Egypt (Gen. xii. 10-20); 
(b) in his sojourn with Abimelech, king 
of Gerar. (Gen. xx.) 

(c) That the revelation given him by God was 
gradual and progressive. For instance, 
the promises made by God to him were 
eight in number, and each added something 
to the previous promise. 

(d) That many tribes claim their descent from 
him, which was admitted by the exclusive 
Israelites. 

(c) That he was rightly called the friend of 
God, as he was always ready to listen for 
Divine guidance in whatever way it should 
be manifested. (2 Chron. xx.7; James ii. 
230) 


CHAPTER 111, 


PARSE Orta oe cee 


ISAAC AND JACOB. 
Genesis XXV. 1]—xXxXXVHI. 


Isaac is described as a man of peaceful 
life, given to meditation, and manifesting 
strong family affection. The events related of him bear 
a strong resemblance to those told of Abraham, as, for 
example, the deception of Abimelech, the strife between 
his herdsmen and those of the king of Gerar, and the 
renewal of the league between Abimelech and himself 
at Beersheba. He is also said to have dug three wells 
in southern Palestine—Sitnah, Esek, and Rehoboth. 
Isaac spent his days in the neighbourhood of Gerar, 
Beersheba, and Hebron. 

The story of Jacob, the immediate 
ancestor of the Israelites, is told at some 
length, and is divisible into three main sections :— 

(1) The rivalry between Jacob and Esau. (Gen. 
xxv. 27-34; xxvii.) 

(2) Jacob’s sojourn with Laban. (Gen. xxix.—xxxi.) 

(3) Jacob’s sojourn in Palestine and the doings of 
his sons. (Gen. xxxliimxxxV., XXXVIl., XXXViii.) 

: The clue to the story of the enmity 
pisces between Jacob and Esau is the deep- 
Esau and Jacob, Seated rivalry between their descendants, 
Israel and Edom. ‘The national charac- 

teristics appear in their ancestors. The strife between 
the two began in the womb, and at his birth Jacob 
received his name from his seizing his brother’s heel. 
(Gen. xxv. 22-26.) Esau became a skilful hunter, 


Isaac. 


Jacob. 


16 z BIBLICAL HISTORY. Cow. mt. 


while Jacob chose the life of a shepherd. Isaac pre- 
ferred Esau, because he did eat of his venison; and 
Rebekah loved Jacob. 

Mel iyetr The first event recorded of the brothers 

wey as ea brings into relief their different disposi- 

ihe Blessing. tions; for Esau sold his birthright to 

; Jacob for a mess of red pottage (re- 

ceiving on this occasion the name of Edom—red) which 

he saw his brother preparing one day when he returned 
from hunting. (Gen. xxv. 29-34.) 

We next read how Jacob, at his mother’s instigation, 
won his. father’s blessing from Esau by fraud 
(Gen. xxvil.), and was forced to flee from his brother’s 
wrath. | 

In all literature there can be no story more pathetic 
than that of Esau’s loss of the blessing. The blind 
father, deceived by the hairy gloves of Jacob, but 
suspicious of the tones of his voice, exclaimed, The 
voice ts Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of 
Esau. 

Art thou my very son Hsau? he asked; and Jacob 
said, I am. The smell of Esau’s garments, which 
Jacob had assumed, deceived his father, who began the 
blessing with the words, See, the smell of my son is 
as the smell of a@ field which the Lord hath blessed. 
Nothing was withheld. On Jacob was bestowed a rich 
territory. (Gen. xxvii. 28, 29.) 

Then Esau appeared and learned how Isaac had been 
duped. He uttered an exceeding bitter cry, saying 
of his brother, Is he not rightly named Jacob? for he 
hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my 
birthright, and now he hath taken away my blessing. 

But although Isaac could not give his beloved son a 
blessing like that of Jacob, he could, however, promise 
him a not ignoble future. Esau was to live by his sword 
in a less favoured land, a subject to his younger brother. 


CH. I.) ISAAC AND JACOB. 17 


But the day would come when his descendants would 
shake his yoke from off their neck. (Gen. xxvii. 
39, 40.) 

To the grief of his parents, Esau married two Hittite 
wives. Afterwards, to please them, he took a daughter 
of Ishmael. His home was in Seir (the rough) in the 
land of Edom (red, see above), and he became the leader 
of a band of four hundred men. 

Though he had obtained the blessing, 
Jacob was obliged to escape from the 
vengeance of Esau; and when he left his father’s home, 
he went, at his mother’s suggestion, to his uncle Laban 
in Haran, in order to take a wife from his own kindred. 
(Gen. xxviii. 2.) On the first night after his flight he 
saw at Bethel a vision of a ladder, or stairway, set up 
between earth and heaven, and the angels of God ascend- 
ing and descending on it. Here the promise made to 
Abraham was repeated, and Jacob received the assurance 
of Divine protection. 

Jacob, at the end of his journey, came 

(2) Jacob’s f 

sojourn with into the land of the people of the east. 
Laban. (Gen. xxix. 1.) Here he met Rachel, 
the daughter of Laban, and helped her 
to water her flock; and Laban received him as a welcome 
guest. At the end of a month Jacob agreed to serve 
his uncle seven years for Rachel, his younger daughter ; 
but at the end of that time Laban gave him his elder 
daughter, Leah; and made Jacob serve another seven 
years for Rachel. 

At the end of the fourteen years Jacob asked to be 
allowed to depart; but Laban besought him to remain, 
promising him all the speckled or spotted kids and the 
lambs that should be born black. By skilful manage- 
ment Jacob contrived that all the best kids should be his, 
although his wages were constantly changed. (Gen. 
Xxx. 32; xxxi. 41.) 


Jacob’s flight. 


18 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cHs tite 


During his sojourn in Haran, Jacob 
became the father of eleven sons, each 
one of whom bore a name suitable to the circumstances 
of his birth By Leah were born Reuben, Simeon, 
Levi, Judah. (Gen. xxix. 31-35.) The two handmaids 
then bore Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher. (xxx. 1-13.) 
Three more children were then borne by Leah— 
Issachar, Zebulon and a daughter, Dinah. (xxx. 14-21.) 
Finally Rachel bore Joseph (addition), because she 
prophesied, Jehovah shall add to me another son. 
(xxx. 22-24.) 


Jacob’s return. 


Jacob’s Sons. 


At last Jacob saw that he was no 
longer in favour with Laban and his sons, 
and decided to leave Haran when his uncle was absent 
sheep-shearing. So he departed with his wives, 
children, and possessions, Rachel taking with her 
the teraphim, or household gods of the family. 
Laban pursued him, but being warned of God in 
a dream to do him no harm, he made a covenant 
with Jacob by setting up a pillar, which Jacob 
called GALEED, and Laban gave it the Syriac name 
JEGAR-SAHADUTHA—both words signifying The heap 
of witness. It was also called MizpAH (The 
watch tower), for Laban said: The Lord watch 
between me and thee, when we are absent one from 
another. 


(3) Jacob’s When Jacob came near his native 
sojourn in home he entered upon a series of 
Eastern spiritual experiences. It seems as if all 
Palestine. that went before was but a preparation 
Mahanaim 


for the stamp of sanctity or dedication 
which was now about to be impressed 
on him. As he journeyed, the Angels of God met him, 
and exclaiming This its God’s host, he gave to the 
place the name of Mahanaim (two hosts). (Gen. xxxii. 
2.) On hearing that Esau was advancing to meet him 


and Penuel. 


CH. 11.) ISAAC AND JACOB. 19 


at the head of four hundred men, Jacob, after fervent 
prayer, divided his household into companies and sent 
them across the brook Jabbok; and himself remained 
alone. We are then told that there wrestled a man 
with him until the breaking of the day. 

Throughout the night the issue of the conflict was 
doubtful; the mysterious Adversary touched the hollow 
of Jacob’s thigh, and the sinew shrank, making him 
thenceforth lame ; but in the end his name was changed 
from Jacob to Israel (God striveth). The awe-struck 
patriarch named the spot Peniel (The face of 
God), for I have seen God face to face, and my life ts 
preserved. (Gen. xxxii. 24-31.) 

Jacob’s meeting next day with Esau resulted in a full 
reconciliation. He then left his brother, and made his 
last halt in Eastern Palestine at Succoth, a city which 
took its name from the booths which the patriarch 
erected there. (Gen. xxxiii. 1-17.) 

On his entry into Western Palestine 


qecor Jacob dwelt in Shechem, where he bought 
in Western 
Weiesting! land from Hamor, the father of Shechem. 


His sojourn there was interrupted, owing 
to the treacherous slaughter of Hamor and his men 
by Simeon and Levi, after making a treaty with them in 
order that Shechem might marry their sister Dinah. 
(Gen. xxxiv.) From Shechem he went to Bethel by 
Divine command. Here he erected an altar to God, 
and here also Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died, 
and was buried at Allon-bacuth (The oak of weeping). 
Thence he went southward to Ephrath, where Kachel 
gave birth to his youngest son, calling him, as her 
soul was in departing, Ben-oni (Son of my sorrow), 
a name which Jacob changed to Ben-jamin (Son of 
my right hand). 

About this time Isaac died, and was buried by his two 
sons, Esau and Jacob. 


20 R BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. III. 


Gontpaccs In concluding this chapter, it is in- 
between the teresting to compare the religious ob- 
religion of —§ servances of Abraham and Jacob, as they 

Abrahamandof tend to shew a falling off from the 

Jacob. : Wes i 

ancient simplicity of the former patriarch. 

In the days of Abraham the intercourse between God 

and man is unrestrained. With Abraham God talked 
face to face. (Gen. xii. 2, 3, xiii. 14, xviii. 1.) Not so 
with Jacob, with whom God communicated through 
angels as intermediaries. 

Abraham’s rites of worship were few and simple; with 

Jacob religious observances multiplied, and many of 
them led later on to superstition and idolatry. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) The account given in Genesis of Isaac is 
very brief, and many of the events recorded 
bear a strong resemblance to those told of 
Abraham. 

(2.) The story of Jacob is given at some length, and can 
be divided into three sections: 

(1) His rivalry with Esau. 

(2) Flight to Laban. 

(3) Return to Palestine. 

(3.) Leading incidents in the life of Jacob. 

(az) His obtaining the blessing by deceit. 

(b) His flight, and vision at Bethel. 

(c) His sojourn with Laban and the deception 
practised on him by the substitution of 
Leah for Rachel. ; 

(d) Birth of eleven of his sons whilst in 
Laban’s service. 


CH. 111.] 


ISAAC AND JACOB 21 


(e) His flight and covenant with Laban at 
Mizpah. 

(f) His spiritual experiences, and meeting 
with Esau. 

(g) His trouble with his sons at Shechem. 

(h) The burial of his father near Mamre, with 
Abraham and Sarah, in the cave of 
Machpelah. 


CHAPTER IV. 





ISRAEL IN EGYPT. 
Genesis XXXIX.—Exodus XII. 


Throughout the patriarchal period the ties which 
bound the descendants of Abraham to their kindred in 
Mesopotamia had been gradually relaxing, and after 
Jacob’s flight from Laban the Hebrews ceased to feel 
any attraction towards their original home. In times of 
distress, even Abraham and Isaac had directed their 
thoughts to Egypt, and Jacob’s sons followed their 
example. A reception was prepared for them in which 
the guiding hand of God is clearly to be recognised. 

We now come to the story of Joseph, 
which by its simplicity and pathos im- 
presses the minds of all who read it with the knowledge 
that God overrules everything for good. 

Joseph was the son of Jacob’s favourite wife, Rachel, 
and as he was born after the lapse of many years of 
married life, he was the son of Jacob’s old age. His 
father designated him as the future head of his family, 
and as a token of his intention clothed him in the 
garment of a chief, by giving him @ coat of many 
colours. 

His brethren were naturally jealous of him; and this 
feeling was increased when Joseph related how in his 
dreams his brethren and even his father and mother 
bowed down to him. 

The crisis in his life came when his father sent him 
with a message to his brethren to the place where they 
were tending sheep. 


Joseph. 


CH. Iv.] ISRARD INV EGYPT. (7 23 


At his approach they said, Behold, this dreamer 
cometh. And they decided to make away with him. 
Reuben, in an ineffective way, tried to save him from 
his brothers’ wrath, but in his absence they sold Joseph 
as a slave to some Midianitish merchants who were going 
to Egypt. They deceived their father by dipping his 
son’s coat in the blood of a kid. This they brought to 
their father, aid said, This have we found ; know 
now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. And he knew 
it, and said, Itis my son’s coat; an evil beast hath 
devoured him; Joseph 1s without doubt rent in pieces. 
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his 
loins, and mourned for his son many days. (Gen. 
XXxvii. 32-34.) 

Joseph, in Egypt, became the trusted 
servant of Potiphar, the Captain of the 
Guard. But owing toa slanderous accu- 
sation by Potiphar’s wife, he was put in prison. 

But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him 
mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper 
of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed 
to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the 
prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the 
doer of it. (Gen. xxxix. 21-22.) 

It was while he was thus employed that he met with 
two great officers of Pharaoh’s court, his chief butler and 
his chief baker, who had been cast into prison. 

One morning, when Joseph came in to them he found 
them both sad, for they had each dreamed dreams they 
did not understand. Joseph interpreted the dream of the 
chief butler—in which he saw a vine with three branches, 
which blossomed and bore grapes which he pressed into 
Pharaoh’s cup—as a sign that in three days he would be 
restored to favour. He took the opportunity of imploring 
him to remember to intercede for him when he 
himself was freed. The chief baker’s dream was not 


Joseph in 
Captivity. 


24 BIBLICAL HISTORY, (cH. Iv. 


so propitious. In the vision of the three baskets 
full of baked meats which the birds did eat out of 
the uppermost basket, Joseph saw a token that in 
three days the unfortunate man would fall a victim to 
Pharaoh’s vengeance. 

The chief butler forgot Joseph for two 
full years. At the end of that time 
Pharaoh had in one night two dreams, 
which none of his magicians could interpret. (Gen. 
xli. 1-8.) 

In the first he dreamed that he stood by the river 
Nile, out of which seven fat kine came up, who were 
speedily devoured by seven lean kine who followed them. 

In the second dream he dreamed that seven full ears 
of corn came up on one stalk, which were devoured by 
seven ears blasted by the east wind. When no 
interpreter could be found, the chief butler remembered 
his fault and mentioned Joseph and his power of inter- 
pretation. 


Joseph at 
Court. 


Joseph was hurriedly summoned from 
prison, and explained the dream, as a 
prediction of seven years of plenty to be 
followed by seven years of famine; and he advised Pharaoh . 
to provide against the years of scarcity during the time 
of the good harvests. For this he was made chief ruler 
in Egypt. An Egyptian wife, Asenath, daughter of 
Potipherah, priest of On, was given him, and his name 
was changed to that of ZAPHNATH-PAANEAH (Revealer 
of secrets). (Gen. xli. 45.) 

During the seven years of plenty Joseph collected all 
the corn and stored it in granaries, selling it in the years 
of famine to the Egyptians for money; and when that 
failed, for cattle and land, which latter he restored to the 
cultivators for an annual payment to the Crown of a fifth 
of their produce. He also sold corn to foreign nations, 
who were also suffering from famine. 


Joseph’s 
promotion. 


CH. IV,] ISRAEL IN EGYPT. 25 


Among these were the sons of Jacob, 
who went down into Egypt to buy corn. 
On their first visit Joseph pretended to 
mistake them for spies, and detained Simeon as a 
hostage for their return, refusing to see them unless 
they brought their brother Benjamin. When _ they 
reached their father’s house, they found to their alarm 
that the money they had paid for the corn had been 
replaced in their sacks. Later, when corn was urgently 
needed, Judah and Reuben, after long persuasion, 
prevailed upon their father to consent to Benjamin’s going 
downto Egypt. This time they took double money, and 
a present for the ruler. On their arrival they were well 
received. Simeon was restored to them, and a grand 
banquet was prepared. During the feast Joseph sent 
Benjamin a five-fold portion. On their departure Joseph 
commanded his steward to put his divining-cup (Gen. xliv. 
2-5) into Benjamin’s sack, and then to send officers to 
arrest the supposed thief. But when the cup was found in 
Benjamin’s sack, all the brethren returned to intercede 
for him. Joseph was so touched, that he made himself 
known to them; and as there were still five more years 
of famine in store, he sent for his father, Jacob, and his 
household. (Gen. xlv.) 

When Jacob heard that Joseph was alive, he offered 
sacrifice at Beersheba, and, encouraged by a vision, 
went down with his family to Egypt. In their 
new settlement of Goshen (or Geshem) of Arabia, they 
long enjoyed independence and high consideration, for 
Pharaoh’s cattle were entrusted to their care. 

We now come to the close of the 
eventful life of Jacob, the last seven- 
teen years of which he spent in Egypt. 
When the time drew nigh that Israel must die 
(Gen. xlvii. 29), he called his son Joseph to him, 
and adopted his two grandsons Manasseh and 


Joseph and 
his Brethren, 


Last days of 
Jacob. 


26 | BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. IV. 


Ephraim, granting them the same honours as his 
first-born. 

But when he blessed them he gave the pre-eminence 
to Ephraim, the younger son, explaining that though 
Manasseh would be the father of a_ great tribe, 
Ephraim would be the father of a greater. 

Before his death Jacob told his sons in poetical 
language the future destiny of the twelve tribes which 
were to spring from them. (Gen. xlix.) After this he 
adjured his sons to bury him with his fathers in the cave 
in the field of Ephron the Hittite. Accordingly, after his 
death he was embalmed and carried to Canaan, and the 
place where the Egyptians mourned him was known as 
ABEL-MIZRAIM. (Gen. 1. 11). 

Before we leave the story of Joseph 
we must not omit the interesting fact 
that the writer of that story, if he was 
not an Egyptian, at least had a personal 
knowledge of the country. For we are told that 

(z) in Pharaoh’s dream the cattle stand in the 
reed-grass by the Nile. (Gen. xli. 3.) 

(b) Joseph is raised to his office in the Egyptian 
manner. (Gen. xli. 42.) 

(c) The name of his wife, Asenath, is Egyptian, 
and so is the title bestowed on him by Pharaoh. 
(Gen. xli. 45.) 

(d) The fifth of the produce has from time im- 
memorial been considered the proper tax on land in 
Egypt. (Gen. xli. 34, xlvii. 24.) 

(ec) The exclusiveness of the Egyptians in not 
eating with foreigners is dwelt upon. (Gen. xliii. 
32, xlvi. 34.) 

(f) Embalming the dead is mentioned as prac- 
tised. (Gen. 1. 2, 26.) 

After the death of Joseph, we are told nothing but 
that there arose up a new king over Egypt, which 


The Writer of 
the Story of 
Joseph. 


CH. Iv.] ISRAEL IN EGYPT. 27 


knew not Joseph. (Ex.i.8.) This king was probably 
Rameses II., the great warrior and builder, of the nine- 
teenth dynasty. He has been identified with the 
Pharaoh of the Oppression by the statement in 
Exodus i. 11 that the Israelites built the treasure-cities 
Pithom and Rameses. It is possible, however, that the 
-“new king” really means a new dynasty, which adopted 
a different policy towards foreigners, and forced the 
Israelites, though originally free shepherds, to labour at 
building. The oppression evidently continued for many 
years, and was especially severe when Moses, the great 
deliverer, was born. 

Moses. He was the son of Jochebed, the wife 

His Birth of Amram the Levite. (Ex. vi. 20.) In 

and spite of the royal edict (Ex. i. 15-22), 

Education. ordering all the male children of the 
Hebrews to be cast into the Nile, his mother kept him 
concealed for three months. At the end of that time 
she made an ark of papyrus leaves and laid it in the 
flags by the river’s bank. The child was found by 
Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him and gave him the 
name of Moses (according to the book of Exodus from 
mashah, to draw out), which some say is Coptic (saved 
from the water), (Ex. ii. 10, margin), but is more probably 
connected with an Egyptian word meaning “prince”’. 
By the connivance of his sister, his mother was chosen 
to be his nurse. (Ex. ii. 7, 8.) He was trained in all 
the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in word 
and deed. (Acts vii. 22.) 

At the age of forty years he championed 
the oppressed, and had to flee from Egypt 
because he killed an Egyptian for smiting 
a Hebrew. He escaped to the land of Midian, where 
his first act in exile was to defend the women at a well, 
whom some shepherds were preventing from watering 
their flocks. These turned out to be the daughters of 


Flight of 
Moses. 


28 BIBLICAL HISTORY. ej seh ag 


Jethro, high-priest of Midian, one of whom, Zipporah, he 
married, and by her became the father of two sons, 
Gershom and Eliezer. 

The Burning After forty years, God appeared to 

Bush. Moses in Horeb, the sacred mount of 

} Midian, in a bush which burned but was 

not consumed, and commanded him to go into Egypt and 
deliver the Israelites from bondage. 

He received there 

(z) A token that when thou hast brought forth 
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon 
this mountain. (Ex. iii. 12.) 

(b) The knowledge of the Name of God, I AM.* 
(Ex tit ALS Aviad6) 

(c) Three signs as a proof of his mission :-— 

(i) The rod in his hand became a serpent when 
cast upon the ground, and resumed its original form 
when Moses seized it. 

(ii) His hand became leprous when placed in 
the fold of his garment and withdrawn, but was 
made whole when he repeated the sign. 

(iii) He was given the power of turning water 
into blood. (Ex. iv. 1-9.) 

After some hesitation Moses accepted the Divine 
commission, and went to Egypt with the consent and 
approval of Jethro. On his return he’met his brother 
Aaron the Levite, who was to accompany him as 
prophet and spokesman. 

ice dees When the brothers first came before 
havea Pharaoh with the request that he would 
let the people go, he not only refused, but 

added to their burdens, asserting that J know not 
Jehovah; and the struggle between Moses and Pharaoh 


* The word JeHovan is compcsed of the consonants J H V H, from the root 
HVH, to become. The vowels are those of Adonay. Lord. which the Hebrews 
use instead of the NAME, from motives of reverence 


CH. Iv.] ISRAEL IN EGYPT. 29 


became a religious one, to prove to that proud monarch 
that Jehovah was more powerful than the gods of Egypt. 
Hence the ten plagues were mostly exaggerations of 
phenomena natural to the country, and were directed 
against all that were held in reverence by its inhabitants. 
They were as follows :— 
(1) Water turned into blood. (Ex. vii. 14-24.) 
(2) FP roessts (ex e-vills 12153) 
(3) Lice. (Ex. viii. 16-19.) 
(4) Flies. (Ex. viii. 20-32.) 
(5) A murrain on the cattle of the Egyptians. 
(Ex. ix. 1-7.) 
(6) Boils. (Ex. ix. 8-12.) 
(7) Thunder and hail. (Ex. ix. 13-35.) 
(8) Locusts. (Ex. x. 1-20.) 
(9) Thick darkness. (Ex. x. 21-29.) 
(10) The slaying of the first-born. (Ex. xi. 4-6; 
xii. 29, 30.) 

After this last plague, the Egyptians thrust out the 
Hebrews, who marched out like a victorious army, 
spoiling the Egyptians: before they withdrew. (Ex. 
xil. 34-36.) 

The effects of this last plague were 
averted by the Israelites, owing to the fact 
that Moses summoned the elders of Israel 
and commanded them to take lambs 
according to their families, and to kill the Passover. 
The blood of the victims was to be sprinkled on the 
lintel and side-posts of the door of every house, that 
the destroying Angel might pass over and spare it. 
‘The feast was to be observed as an ordinance for ever. 

The story of the Exodus is most important, as the 
pivot on which the history of Israel turns. It was 
because they believed that God had brought them 
out of Egypt that the people became what they were, 
and are. 


The Institution 
of the 
Passover. 


30 | BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. IV. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) The sale of Joseph into Egypt by his brethren led 
to great results, not only on the history of Egypt, 
but on that of the Hebrew race. For his know- 
ledge of the interpretation of dreams 

(az) saved the land of Egypt from famine; 

(b) increased the power of Pharaoh, as in the 
lean years the people mortgaged their 
land to him, giving him a fifth of the 
produce ; 

(c) gave him supreme power in Egypt next to 
Pharaoh, and so 

(d) enabled him to settle his father and brethren 
in the land of Goshen as Pharaoh’s herds- 
men. 

(2.) The death of Jacob was marked by the Blessing of 
his Sons, and the allotment of their future tribal 
inheritance. 

(3.) There are certain difficulties about the date of 
the Story of Joseph, but most scholars are 
agreed that the Pharaoh of the Oppression was 
Rameses II., the great warrior and builder, of the 
nineteenth dynasty. 

(4.) Moses, the son of Amram the Levite, was raised up 
as the deliverer of his oppressed fellow country- 
men. 

(a) As an infant he was adopted by Pharaoh’s 
daughter, who brought him up as her own 
son. 

(b) At the age of forty years he fled from 
Egypt, owing to his over-zealous champion- 
ship of his countrymen. 

(c) He lived in Midian forty years, where he 
married Jethro’s daughter, and had two 
sons, 


GH. TV: » ISRAEL IN EGYPT. 31 


(d) At the end of that period he was com- 
manded by God in the Burning Bush to 
go down into Egypt and deliver His 
people. 

(c) The history of his interviews with Pharaoh 
and the Ten Plagues then follows, culminat- 
ing with the Institution of the Passover 
and the hurried departure of the Hebrews 
from the land of bondage. 


CHAPTER V. 


ee 


THE FLIGHT OF ISRAEL, AND THE WANDERINGS, 
UP TO SINAI. 


Exodus XII. 





XIX, 


The people who followed Moses were not as yet 
worthy of the name of a nation; for 

(a) Joined as they were by a mixed multitude of 
fugitives, they lacked order, cohesion, dis- 
cipline. 

(b) Without experience of a wandering life, they 
looked to Moses for help, and above all for food 
and water. 

(c) The vices, which years of slavery had en- 
gendered, caused them to be faithless, easily 
discouraged, and often ready to give up all 
they had won and to return to the house of 
bondage. 

In the book of Micah we read that the three deliverers 
of Israel were MOSES, AARON, and MIRIAM. AARON’S 
eloquence probably was the cause of the people making 
up their minds to throw off the yoke of Egypt; while 
MIRIAM, as a prophetess, had taken the lead among the 
women of Israeli to incite their husbands to try for free- 
dom. But we shall see later on that Moses could not 
always rely upon their loyalty. MOSES was a solitary 
figure. On his shoulders fell the burden of guiding the 
people through the deserts and welding them into a 
nation. He was known to fame as having been the 
most patient (i.e. enduring) of men. 


CH. V.] THE WANDERINGS. 2 33 


After the Israelites had been thrust out 
by Pharaoh, they made straight for the 
desert instead of taking the more direct 
route, the way of the Philistines. This was owing toa 
Divine command, for God said, Lest peradventure the 
people repent when they see war, and they return 
to Egypt. (Ex. xiii. 17.) This road was barred by 
Egyptian fortresses, as well as being the one by which 
the Canaanites would be constantly on the watch against 
invaders. So as the longer way was in the case of this 
emigrant horde the safer, they directed their course to 
the desert, which lay to the east of Goshen, journeying 
from Rameses to Succoth and encamping at Etham 77 the 
edge of the wilderness. The nation went out armed, and 
the bones of the patriarch Joseph accompanied its march. 
(Ex. xiii. 18-19.) The way was miraculously shewn 
them by a pillar of cloud which became a pillar of fire 
by night. 


The Flight of 
Israel. 


As soon as the Egyptians had recovered 
from their panic they resolved to overtake 
the Israelites, and if possible to detain 
them by force. Several records of the overthrow of 
the hosts of Pharaoh are preserved in the Book of 
Exodus :— 

(1) The Song of Moses in Exodus xv. This 
song celebrates Jehovah as casting Pharaoh’s 
hosts into the sea. The refrain of this 
triumphant ode was sung by Miriam, the sister 
of Aaron, who went forth, timbrel in hand, at 
the head of the Hebrew women. (Ex. xv. 20.) 

(2) One narrative in Exodus xiv. tells us that when 
Pharaoh drew near, Jehovah told Moses and 
his army to Go forward. The Israelites 
were protected by the pillar of fire and cloud; 
and during the night a strong east wind divided 
the waters. At the same time Jehovah troubled 

dD 


The Crossing of 
the Red Sea. 


34 i BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cH. v° 


the Egyptians and bound their chariot wheels. 
In the morning the sea returned in its strength, 
and Jehovah shook off the Egyptians in the 
midst of the sea. 

(3) The other account is the work of a writer who 
knew Egypt well. Here the Israelites are 
commanded to turn back from Etham and 
to encamp between Pi-hahiroth and the sea. 
Pharaoh exulted because he thought they were 
entangled in the land. ‘The people in turn 
reproached Moses, but he stretched forth his 
hand and the waters were divided, so that the 
Israelites went over as on dry land, while 
after Moses had stretched forth his hand 
again, the Egyptians were swallowed up by 
the sea. 

The exact route of the Israelites after 
they crossed the Red Sea is not known, 
but the following places are recorded as 
halting stations :— 

MARAH, in the Wilderness of Shur, where the bitter 
water in the pools was made sweet when Moses cast a 
tree into them. (Exodus xv. 23-25.) 

ELIM, with its twelve pools and seventy palm trees. 

The Wilderness of SIN, which is between Elim and 
Sinai (Exodus xvi. 1), where the people murmured, as 
they had done at Marah. 

The Manna. Jehovah then promised to rain down 

bread from heaven; and when the people 
presented themselves before Him, His glory appeared 
in the cloud. Moses was commanded to assure the 
people At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning 
ye shall be filled with bread. Inthe evening quail came 
in such abundance that they covered the camp, and in 
the morning, when the dew that lay was gone uh, 

a substance with the appearance of hoar frost was seen 


The Journey to 
Sinai. 


CH. V.] THE WANDERINGS. 35 


upon the ground. It received the name of Manna, from 
the expression of the people as they beheld it, Man hu 
(‘tis a gift), and was Israel’s chief food throughout the 
wanderings. A double portion was given every sixth 
day, in order that the Sabbath might not be profaned; 
and it was also supplied in such a way that no one could 
gather more than another. He that gathered much had 
nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. 
(Exodus xvi. 4-36.) 

The next halting place was REPHIDIM, 
where water again failed, but was 
procured by Moses striking the rock in Horeb, and the 
place was called MASSAH and MERIBAH. Here the first 
battle was fought with the Amalekites, who were 
defeated by Joshua, aided by the prayers of Moses, 
whose outstretched arms were supported by Aaron and 
Hur, as whenever they ceased to be uplifted, Amalek 
prevailed. An Altar was erected here, called JEHOVAH 
NISSI (Jehovah is my banner). 

At REPHIDIM Jethro restored to Moses his wife 
Zipporah and his sons Gershom and Eliezer. (Ex. 
Xviii. 1-12.) And at his suggestion Moses appointed 
rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, 
to help him to judge the people. 

Israel reached SINAI in the third month after their 
departure from Egypt. This was probably the place 
where Moses had received his commission and had seen 
the vision of the Burning Bush; for he had been told 
When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt 
ye shall serve God upon this mountain. (Ex. iii. 12.) 
The names Sinai and Horeb probably mean the same 
place, the traditional site of which is the extremity of 
the peninsula between the two gulfs of the Red Sea, 
though, as will be seen in the next chapter, this is 
disputed. 


Amalek. 


36 if BIPLICAL HISTORY. (CH. v. 


SUMMARY. 


The Israelites leave Egypt, not by the way of the 
Philistines, but by the desert. 
Their halting-places are: 
Before crossing the Red Sea— 
(1) Rameses ; 
(2) Succoth ; 
(3) Etham, on the edge of the Wilderness. 
After crossing the Red Sea— 
(4) Marah ; 
(5) Elim; 
(6) The Wilderness of Sin (the Manna) ; 
(7) Rephidim (the battle with Amalek) ; 
(8) Sinai in the third month. 


GHAR DER i vias 


THE COVENANT; THE TABERNACLE; ISRAEL’S 
APOSTASY. 


Exodus XX.—xXL. 


The peninsula of Sinai, the traditional situation of the 
Mount of the Law, was an ancient possession of Egypt, 
highly valued because of its turquoise mines, which 
strong garrisons of Egyptian troops were posted to 
guard. It is possible, therefore, that Mount Sinai was 
in Edom or Midian, and this is in some measure borne 
out by the Bible. See Judges v. 4,5; Deut. xxxili. 2; 
Hab. iii. 3; Gal. iv. 25, Mount Sinai in Arabia. 

When the people arrived at Sinai three 
days were set apart in order that due 
preparation might be made by Israel to meet their God. 
All the people were instructed to wash their garments 
and to sanctify themselves. If man or beast so much as 
touched the mountain, the penalty was death. The 
culprit must be stoned or shot through, for no human 
hand might be laid upon one who had been in contact 
with so holy a spot. (Ex. xix. 9-25.) At this supreme 
moment, Jehovah, amid thunderings and _ lightnings, 
proclaimed His Will in the Ten Words or Command- 
ments which have been accepted by all as the basis of 
man’s duty to God and his neighbour. These Ten Words 
stand by themselves as the only law spoken by Jehovah 
to the whole nation of Israel. They teach that devotion 
to God and conduct are the essence of true religion. 

So terrified were the people by the Voice they had 
heard, that they begged that the remainder of the message 


The Ten Words. 


38 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. VI. 


might be given to them through a mediator, and Moses 
once more entered into the thick darkness. But we may 
gather from the Sacred Narrative that the subsequent 
Laws were regarded as inferior to the Ten Words, be- 
cause they did not come to the nation direct from 
Jehovah. 

The laws contained in the oldest 
documents are included in the Book of 
the Covenant, so called on the occasion of 
its delivery by Moses to Israel. (Ex. xxiv. 7, 8.) This 
code seems to be in a sense the foundation of the polity 
of Israel. The laws in it deal with 

(1) Religious worship, 
(2) Persons, 
(3) Property. 

(1) With regard to religious observances the Book 
of the Covenant divides Sacrifices into two 
classes: 

(z) Burnt offerings, 
(b) Peace offerings. 
Altars are to be made of earth, or of unhewn stones, 
without steps. (Ex. xx. 24-26.) 
Jehovah claims as His right 
(az) The first-born son. (Ex. xxii. 29.) 
(6) The first-born of all cattle. (Ex. xxii. 30.) 
(c) The seventh day. (Ex. xxiii. 12.) 
(d) The seventh year. (Ex. xxiii. 11.) 
The three feasts at which all males are ordered to 
appear before Jehovah are those of 
(az) Unleavened Bread, in memory of Israel’s 
coming forth from Egypt in the month 
Abib. (Ex. xxiii. 15.) 
(b) Harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours. 
(Ex. xxiii. 16.) 
(c) Ingathering, when thou gatherest in thy 
labours. (Ex. xxiii. 16.) 


The Book of 
the Covenant. 


CH. VI-] THE COVENANT. 39 


Three further precepts are given: 

(a) No leavened bread must be used in 
Sacrifices. (Ex. xxiii. 18.) 

(v) *Sirst-fruits are to be brought to the 
house of Jehovah. (Ex. xxiii. 19.) 

(c) Thon shalt not seethe a kid in its 
mother’s milk. (Ex. xxiii. 19.) 

(2) Under the laws regarding Persons, the slave 

had rights :— 

(a) If under chastisement he lost eye or tooth, 
he was to be set free. (Ex. xxi. 26, 27.) 

(b) If a master killed a slave, he was liable 
to punishment. (Ex. xxi. 20, 21.) 

(c) No Hebrew slave could be kept for 
more than six years, except of his own 
free will. But if his master had given 
him a wife, he could only retain her by 
consenting to remain in bondage for life. 

(d) The honour of female slaves was scrupu- 
lously regarded, and no Hebrew woman 
could be sold to a foreigner. (Ex. xxi. 
Fee, 

Polygamy was practically rare among the Hebrews. 
If a man took a second wife, the rights of the first 
remained unimpaired. (Ex. xxi. 10.) 

The duty of avenging a man’s death fell upon his nearest 
kinsman. No wilful murderer could escape. Places of 
sanctuary were promised for those who were guilty of 
accidental or unpremeditated homicide. (Ex. xxi. 12-14.) 

(3) The laws of property are very simple and 

presuppose an agricultural community. 

The great principle that underlay the 
laws of the Covenant was this :—That 
the legislation of Moses is chiefly distin- 
guished by the spirit of mercy and for- 
bearance which permeated it. Jf thow meet thine 


Principle of 
the Covenant 
legislation. 


40 BIBLICAL HISTORY...) - (CH. VI. 


enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely 
bring 1t back to him again. (Ex. xxiii. 4.) Thou shalt 
not oppress a stranger; for ye know the heart of a 
stranger, seeing we were strangers in the land of 
Egypt.” (Ex. xxiii. 9.) 

Moses also received on Mount Sinai 
full directions for the erection of a 
Tabernacle in which all acts of worship to Jehovah 
should be performed. And we are also told that the 
law-giver spent forty days on the mountain in communion 
with God. But in the absence of Moses the people 
waxed impatient, and demanded of Aaron that he 
should make a visible symbol of their God to go 
before them: for as for this Moses, the man that 
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not 
what ts become of him. (Ex. xxxii. 1.) 

Aaron shewed no reluctance in obey- 
ing the request of the people, and 
ordered them to give up the golden ear- 
rings which they wore, in order that he might make an 
image of a calf. He then said, These be thy gods, O 
Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of 
Egypt. (Ex. xxxii. 4.) A solemn feast to Jehovah was 
proclaimed; an Altar was built; burnt offerings were 
offered, and peace offerings brought. And the people 
sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. 
(Ex. xxxii. 6.) 


The Tabernacle. 


The Golden 
Calf. 


Jehovah Himself informed Moses of 
re Sp ue Te apostasy of Israel. When he left the 
olden Calf. find 

Divine Presence, with the two tables of 

the testimony, written by the finger of God, he and 
Joshua, his companion, heard the noise of the people as 
they shouted, and Joshua said, There is a notse of 
war in the camp. Moses answered, Jt is not the 
voice of them that shout for mastery, netther is it the 
voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the 


CH. vi. | THE TABERNACLE. APOSTASY. 41 


noise of them that sing do I hear. (Ex. xxxii. 17, 18.) 
As he came nearer and saw the people dancing round 
the calf, Moses in his anger cast the tables out 
of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 
Directly he came to the people, Moses had the calf 
burnt and ground to powder, which he mixed with 
water, and forced its worshippers to drink. For so 
great a sin against Jehovah vengeance had to be 
taken, so he cried, Who its on the Lord’s side? 
His own tribe of Levi rallied to his call, and slew 
no less than three thousand of them. Moses again 
sought pardon from God: and from henceforth Jehovah 
said that His Angel should guide Israel through the 
desert to their promised home, but He would not 
accompany them Himself. In token of penitence 
the people stripped themselves of their ornaments 
by the Mount Horeb. (Ex. xxxiii. 6.) 
Moses did not ascend the mountain 
The Tent of , 
Meeting. after this, but was allowed to commune 
with Jehovah in the Tent of Meeting’, 
which he used to pitch without the camp before the 
Tabernacle was made. When Moses entered the Tent, 
the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the 
Tent. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as 
a man speaketh to his friend. Joshua, we are told, 
departed not out of the Tent. (Ex. xxxiii. 7-11.) 
Moses’ vision Two petitions were now made by 
of Jehovah. Moses to Jehovah: 

(1) That Jehovah would accompany the march of 
Israel in spite of their sin in the matter of the 
calf. To this the answer was given: My 
presence shall go with thee, and I will give 
thee rest. (Ex. xxxiii. 14.) 

(2) That the Lord would shew Moses His glory. 
To this request Jehovah replied: No man 
shall see Me and live. (Ex. xxxiii. 20.) But 


42 4 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [cH. vi. 


He consented to put Moses into a cleft in the 
rock, and to cover him with His Hand, whilst 
He passed by and proclaimed the NAME of 
JEHOVAH. (Ex. xxxiv. 5-7.) 

This vision was seen on Mount Sinai, when Moses 
presented ‘the new tables of stone which he had been 
ordered to make, and Jehovah inscribed on them His 
commandments. The broken covenant was renewed, 
and Moses remained in the Divine Presence forty days 
and forty nights. 

When the Israelites were about to leave Sinai, Moses 
commanded his brother-in-law, Hobab, the son of Reuel 
the Midianite, to become their guide, in the words, 
Thou shalt be to us instead of eyes. And it shall be, 
if thou go with us, yea, tt shall be, that what good 
soever the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do 
unto thee. In this way the permanent alliance between 
Israel and the Kenites was made. (Num. x. 29-32.) 

The Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah had also its 
share in guiding the people, preceding them three days 
to seek out a resting place. When the Ark was 
removed, Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine 
enentes be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee 
before Thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O 
Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel. (Num. x. 
35, 36. Psalm Ixviii. 1.) 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) In the third month the people encamped before 
Sinai and prepared for the appearance of God’s 
Presence among them. 

(2.) Lhe Ten Commandments (the Ten Words) were 
spoken by God Himself, and then the Israelites 
begged that the rest of the Law might be spoken 
to Moses. 


CH. VI.] THE TABERNACLE. APOSTASY. 43 


(3.) Moses then entered the thick darkness and 
received the earliest legislation, which, from its 
solemn inauguration with the sprinkling of blood, 
is called The Book of the Covenant. (Ex. xxiv. 7.) 

(4.) Instructions were given for the making of the 
Tabernacle. 

(5.) The Law of the Sabbath was renewed, and Moses 
was given the two tables of testimony written 
with the finger of God. (Ex. xxxi. 18.) 

(6.) Aaron made the golden calf, which the people were 
worshipping as Moses with Joshua was descending 
the mountain. 

(7.) The tribe of Levi took vengeance on the people. 

(8.) God again talked with Moses, who asked to see His 
glory. 

(9.) Moses made two new tables. 


CHAP DER? aVil: 


FROM SINAI TO THE DEATH OF MOSES. 





Numbers I.—XXXVI. 
With the departure from Sinai the 
-second stage in the story of the Exodus 
is entered upon. Israel had been brought 
to the mountain to receive the Law, and now was at liberty 
to conquer a home; but events proved that further 
discipline was needed before a fugitive horde of Egyptian 
slaves could become a victorious nation. 
Before they reached their first halting place they 
murmured at TABERAH (burning), and as a punishment 
fire consumed part of their camp. (Num. xi. 1-3.) 
When, owing to the complaints of the mixed multi- 
tude (Num. xi. 4-6), Moses found that the task of 
governing the people was too hard for him, Jehovah told 
him to summon seventy elders before the Tent of Meeting, 
to whom He would give aspirit of wisdom. On the elders 
presenting themselves, the cloud came down on the Tent, 
the spirit of Jehovah was poured out upon them and they 
prophesied. Two of their number, named Eldad and 
Medad, had not gone to the Tent, but they also prophesied. 
This was told to Moses, and Joshua his minister said, 
My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said, Art 
thou jealous for my sake? Would God that all the 
Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would 
put His spirit upon them. (Num. xi. 11-29.) 
God then sent quails to the people, but no sooner was 
the flesh between their teeth than a plague smote them; 


March to 
Kadesh. 


cH. vil.}] FROM SINAI TO THE DEATH OF MOSES. 45 


and the place was called Kibroth-hataavah (The graves 
of lust). (Num. xi. 30-34.) 

At HAZEROTH, Miriam was smitten with 
leprosy because she and Aaron spoke 
against the Cushite woman whom Moses 
had married, and questioned his claim to be the sole mouth- 
piece of Godtothe people. (Num. xii.) She was healed 
at Moses’ intercession, but she had to remain outside the 
camp for seven days, nor did the people leave Hazeroth 
till she had been re-admitted. 

Re pices The Israelites next came to KADESH in 

the wilderness of Paran, from whence the 
first attempt to win a home for Israel had to be made. 
Herea representative of each of the twelve tribes was sent 
out, to spy out the land. They seem to have gone no farther 
north than Hebron, and to have returned to Kadesh, 
bringing with them from the valley of Eshcol so large 
a cluster of grapes that it took two men to carry it. 
They brought back an evil report of the land, as they said 
that the cities were fenced and very great, and the natives 
appeared to be of great stature and strength. (Num. xiii.) 

Caleb, the representative of the tribe of Judah, was the 
exception. He together with Joshua reported favourably. 
As a reward they were promised to enter and inherit 
the Land whereunto they went. 

The people, discouraged by the spies, murmured, 
and wished to go back to Egypt. For their lack of 
trust they were condemned to wander forty years in 
the desert. (Num. xiv. 34.) In spite of this they 
tried to break through, but were defeated in the 
mountains by the Amalekites and Canaanites, who 
chased them from Seir to Hormah. 

Excluded from the promised land, 
Israel had now to spend forty years in 
wandering through the desert. Of this 
long period hardly anything is recorded. All that is said 


Miriam 
smitten. 


Forty years 
Wanderings. 


46 . BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. VII. 


about it in Moses’ last address to the people is: So ye 
abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days 
that ye abode there. (Deut. i. 46.) 


Rebellion of During this time several rebellions 
Korah and his took place, the most important being 
companions. that of Korah. Numbers xvi. seems to 


contain three narratives : 

(1) Dathan and Abiram, sons of Reuben, rebelled 
against the civil authority of Moses, whom they 
accused of wishing to make himself a prince. 
For this they and their households were 
swallowed up. 

(2) Korah and two hundred and fifty princes 
rebelled against Moses and Aaron in the 
interests of the people at large as opposed to 
the monopoly of the tribe of Levi. 

(3) An independent account relates how two 
hundred and fifty Levites rebelled against 
Aaron’s priestly authority. 

After the destruction of Korah and his followers the 
people murmured against Moses and Aaron: Ye have 
killed the people of the Lord. They were smitten with 
the plague; but Aaron, at Moses’ command, took his 
censer and made atonement. And he stood between 
the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed. 

After this the representative of each tribe was bidden 
to take a rod, and inscribe his name on it. The rods 
were laid up in the Tent, and Aaron’s rod, for the tribe 
of Levi, budded and bore almonds, in token that Jehovah 
had chosen the tribe of Levi to minister to Him. The 
rod was ordered to be kept in the Ark. (Num. xvii.) 

When the years of wandering were 
ended Moses led the Israelites upon the 
last stage of their journey, to the Land of 
Promise. Their object was the fords of the Jordan. 
The shortest route lay through the territories of Edom 


Last March to 
Canaan. 


CH. VII.] FROM SINAI TO THE DEATH OF MOSES. 47 


and Moab. Edom at this time was held by a warlike 
race, well able to protect their country from invasion, 
and the Edomites refused to allow the Israelites to pass 
through their land. (Num. xx. 14-21.) 

While the people were waiting for the 
reply of the Edomites, at Mount Hor, 
near the great fortress of Petra, Moses, by Jehovah’s com- 
mand, took Aaron and his son Eleazar up the mountain, 
and after Eleazar had been invested with the insignia of 
the Priesthood, Aaron died there on the top of the mount, 
and was mourned by Israel thirty days. (Num.xx.24-29.) 

At this time Arad, the Canaanite king, 
attacked the Israelites and took some 
prisoners, and the king of Edom presented 
such a threatening front that the only way open to Israel 
was to turn southward by the eastern border of Edom. The 
journey was a terrible one, and as usual the people mur- 
mured against Moses. They were punished by fiery 
serpents, but on their repentance were cured by the sight 
of the Brazen Serpent, which Moses was ordered by God 
to erect on a pole in their sight. (Num. xxi. 1-9.) 

Finally, after encamping at several stopping places, 
the days of wandering were at an end, and the hour of 
conquest had come. 

Sihon, king of the Amorites, was 
defeated, which was the first victory the 
chosen people had gained since the days of Amalek at 
Rephidim. Thus they became masters of his territory, 
and were now able to establish themselves in the plains 
of Moab, a little to the north of the Dead Sea. 
(Num. xxi. 21-24.) 

The encampment on the Plains of 

Ja apne Moab is of equal importance with those 
Moab. of Mount Sinai and Kadesh. Here God 
turned the curse of Balaam into a 

blessing, and from thence the army of Israel advanced 


Death of Aaron. 


The Brazen 
Serpent. 


Sihon defeated. 


48 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. VII. 


to attack Midian. Here Moses delivered his solemn 
farewell address to Israel, and in the neighbouring 
mountain of Nebo the great leader died. 

It was in the plains of Moab also that Joshua received 
his commission to lead Israel across the Jordan to the 
conquest of the land. 

The Israelites began a campaign 
against Og, the king of Bashan, which 
ended in his defeat at Edrei. Seventy 
walled cities were seized by the Israelites, who thus 
became possessed of Eastern Palestine, from Arnon to 
the mountain of Hermon. 

Og was the last of the giants. Part of his territory 
was afterwards occupied by Jair, the son of Manasseh, 
who called the district Havoth-Jair. (Num. xxxii. 
41, 42.) 


Balaam. 


Bashan 
conquered. 


Balak, king of Moab, convinced of the 
futility of any attempt to defeat the army 
of Israel in the field, called in a powerful magician 
named Balaam, who dwelt at Pethor by the Euphrates, 
requesting him to curse the people. 

Envoys were sent to Balaam with the rewards of 
divination in their hands. At first the prophet was 
forbidden by God to go. But when the second embassy 
of Moabitish princes, more honourable than the first, 
arrived, Balaam bade them wait for a night. On this 
occasion he was permitted to go to Balak, but God 
warned him, Only the word which I speak unto thee, 
that shalt thou do. On Balaam’s journey the Angel 
of Jehovah withstood him, and as a sign the ass on 
which the prophet rode was made to speak and rebuke 
his madness in defying the Divine command. 

The king of Moab met Balaam in the city of Kiriath- 
huzoth, and the next morning led him to the heights of 
Baal, which overlooked the camps of Israel. 

Balaam uttered his first prophecy with the question, 


CH. VII.] FROM SINAI TO THE DEATH OF MOSES. 49 


How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? Who 
can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth 
part of Israel? (Num. xxiii. 8-10.) 

The second prophecy was delivered at Zophim. This 
time Balaam addressed Balak in terms of rebuke: God 
is not aman that He should lie, neither the son of man 
that He should repent. (Num. xxiii. 19-24.) 

Hearing such blessings bestowed on his enemies, 
Balak cried, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them 
at all. But Balaam answered that he had already 
warned him, All that Jehovah speaketh, that must I do. 
Blessed be everyone that blesseth thee, and cursed be 
everyone that curseth thee. (Num. xxiii. 25—xxiv. 9.) 

After uttering his prophecy, Balaam 
rose up and went and returned to his own 
place; but the Midianites, at his instigation, led the 
Israelites astray and induced them to practise the 
impure rites of Baal of Peor. | 

Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, executed judgment 
on an Israelite, by name Zimri, and a Midianitish 
woman, and for this he was rewarded by the promise 
of an everlasting priesthood. (Num. xxv. 13.) 

For seducing the people into so great a sin against 
Jehovah, Israel undertook a war against the Midianites. 
Only the female children were spared in this war of 
vengeance. 


Baal-Peor. 


Only one more act is recorded of 

eae of Moses ; the grant of the conquered lands 
euben and . t 

Gad. of Sihon and Og to the tribes of Reuben 

and Gad on condition of their sending 

warriors to help in the conquest of Western Palestine. 

If they failed, Moses warned them Be sure your 

sin will find you out. It was believed that Moses, 

before his death, assembled the people in the Plains 

of Moab and delivered to them as a last charge the 

discourse contained in the fifth Book of the Penta- 


E 


_ 


50 a BIBLICAL) HISTORY: hens VE, 


teuch, the second law, as the Alexandrian translators 
term the Book of Deuteronomy. 

At theend of the book aretwo poems attributed to Moses: 

(1) THE SONG, which he and Hoshea the son of Nun 
shake in the ears of the people. (Deut. xxxii.) 

(2) THE BLESSING, wherewith Moses, the man of 
God, blessed the children of Israel before his 
death. (Deut. xxxiii.) This “ Blessing’ must 
be compared with the blessing of the tribes by 
Jacob in Genesis xlix. Unlike Jacob, Moses 
declares Levi to be the priestly tribe and the 
teachers of the Law. Simeon is not so much 
as mentioned. Judah, who occupies so promi- 
nent a place in Jacob’s blessing, is dismissed 
with a few words: Hear, Lord, the voice of 
Judah, and bring him unto his people. 

The ninetieth Psalm, which is entitled, A Prayer 
of Moses, the man of God, is also ascribed to him. 

At last, at God’s command, the aged 
leader went up from the plains of Moab 
unto Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah. 
At the beginning of the Wanderings he ascended the 
Mount of the Law; at the close, he went up Nebo, the 
Mount of Prophecy, from the summit of which he saw 
the nation he had so faithfully led, and the Land which 
the people were to receive from Jehovah. ‘There, in view 
of the Land which he had sought, but might not enter, 
Moses died, and was buried in the valley in the land 
of Moab over against Beth-Peor, the scene of Israel’s 
sin. Of Moses it is said, no man knoweth of his 
sepulchre unto this day. (Deut. xxxiv.) 

} Yet There hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel 
like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. 
(Deut. xxxiv. 10.) 

Nor did there, until ONE came who said of the great 

Lawgiver, he wrote of Me. (John v. 46.) 


Death of 
Moses. 


CH vil.}] FROM SINAI TO THE DEATH OF MOSES. 51 


SUMMARY. 


The Book of Numbers deals with a definite period ex- 
tending over about thirty-eight years, from the departure 
from Sinai to the encampment of Israel on the Plains of 
Moab, where the wanderings ended. 


(1.) The march from Sinai to Kadesh. 
(2.) The march to Kadesh, and Israel’s failure to enter 
the Promised Land. 

(a) The people arrived at the wilderness of 
Paran, where the Cloud which guided them 
rested. 

(b) Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law, 
became their guide. 

(c) At Taberah the people were punished by 
fire, and at Kibroth-hataavah by plague. 

(d) Aaron and Miriam murmured against Moses. 

(ce) The spies were sent out, and the people were 
defeated at Hormah. 

(f) Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebelled against 
Moses. 

(3.) The passing away of the older generation, and the 
march from Kadesh to Eastern Palestine. 

(a) Miriam died at Kadesh, and Moses and Aaron 
offended God by striking the rock at the 
Water of Meribah. 

(b) An embassy was sent to Edom, during which 
time Aaron died, and the Israelites were 
defeated by Arad the Canaanite. 

(c) The people marched to the Red Sea, avoiding 
the land of Edom. During this hard 
journey the people were punished for their 
murmurings by the fiery serpents. 

(d) They then encamped in the valley of Moab, 
and defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, 

: and Og the king of Bashan. 


52 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. VII. 


(4.) Israel in the plains of Moab. 

(a) Here Balaam was invited by Balak, king of 
Moab, to curse the people, but at God’s 
command he blessed them instead. At his 
instigation the people were seduced into 
he sin of Baal-Peor, were punished by 
pestilence, and avenged themselves upon 
the Midianites. 

(b) The tribes of Reuben and Gad were given an 
inheritance on the east of Jordan. 

(c) Eleazar the Priest and Joshua were ordered 
to divide the land. 

(d) Moses died on Mount Pisgah. 


GTA DE RAVLET. 


THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 


Joshua I.—xXXIV. 


At the time of the death of Moses, the 


eer Israelites were already in possession of 
Palestine, astern Palestine, but it was necessary 


for the progress of the nation that the 
wandering habits of their ancestors should be replaced 
by the settled life of an agricultural community, by 
which alone an organized national life could be attained. 

Moses, who was reared in the midst of Egyptian 
civilization, naturally desired his countrymen to know 
something better than the undisciplined life of the 
Bedawin Arabs. So successful were his labours, that 
only the two tribes of Reuben and Gad were satisfied 
with continuing to lead a pastoral life in Eastern Pales- 
tine, although they were ready to help their brethren to 
settle in the land on the other side of the Jordan. 

At the death of Moses the tents of Israel extended 
from the shores of the Dead Sea to Abel-Shittim, a 
distance of six miles. It was spring, the season of 
harvest in Palestine, when the river overflows its banks, 
and so the inhabitants of Jericho did not fear an invasion 
from the east. (Josh. iii. 15.) 

Moses had been succeeded by Joshua, 
originally called Hoshea, but Moses had 
given him the unusual honour of adding the Divine 
Name to his, Hoshea being changed into Joshua 
(Jehovah is Salvation). (Num. xiii. 16.) Jesus (Iycois) 
is a Grecised form of Joshua. (Heb. iv. 8, A.V.) 


Joshua. 


54 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. VIII. 


Joshua sent two spies to Jericho to 
obtain information. They lodged in the 
house of Rahab, who protected them and 
aided them to escape. For this they swore to save her 
and her relatives, when the city was taken. Rahab’s 
family was incorporated in the tribe of Judah; and she 
was an ancestress of our Lord. (Matth. i. 5.) 

Joshua took his army about six miles 
from Shittim to the Jordan, and remained 
encamped on the brink of the river for 
three days before the order was given to cross. After 
this, as soon as the feet of the priests bearing the Ark 
touched the water, the stream was stayed at Adam, a 
place about seventeen miles north of Jericho, and then 
all the people passed over on dry ground. ‘Twelve stones 
were brought over by representatives of the twelve 
tribes, and set up where the Israelites encamped 
that night, to be a perpetual memorial of the event. 
(Josh. iii., iv.) 


Camp at Gilgal. 


The Spies sent 
to Jericho. 


Joshua crosses 
the Jordan. 


The first camp after crossing Jordan 
was called Gilgal, because all who had 
been born in the desert were there circumcised, and Jeho- 
vah said, This day have I rolled away (gallothi) the 
reproach of Egypt from off you. (Josh. v. 9.) 

Here also 

(az) The Passover was kept, and 

(b) The Israelites began to eat the corn of the land, 
as the manna had ceased. (Josh. v. 10-12.) 

(c) A solemn vow to consecrate everything taken at 
Jericho to Jehovah was probably made here. 

A vision prepared Joshua for his enter- 
prise against Jericho. He saw a Man 
standing with a drawn sword in his hand, and asked him, 
Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? ‘The answer 
was, Nay, but as Captain of the Host or THE LorRpD 
am I now come. Joshua was then commanded to put — 


Joshua’s vision. 


CH. VIII. | THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 5s 


off his shoes, for he stood on holy ground. (Josh. v. 
13-15.) 

Jericho was now formally invested. 
None went out and none came in. 
For six days the Priests bore the Ark 
round the walls, followed by the army in solemn silence. 
On the seventh day Joshua commanded all to Shout, 
for the Lord hath given you the city. ‘Then the 
walls fell down, and the inhabitants were put to 
the sword, with the exception of Rahab and her family. 
(Josh. vi.) 

A solemn curse was pronounced on the man who 
should presume to rebuild the city. Wuth the loss of 
his first-born shall he lay the foundation thereof, and 
with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the 
gates of it. (Josh. vi. 26.) This was fulfilled in the 
days of Ahab: In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build 
Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof with the loss 
of Abiram his first-born, and set up the gates thereof 
with the loss of his youngest son Segub; according to 
the word of the Lord, which He spake by the hand 
of Joshua the son of Nun. (1 Kings xvi. 34.) 

Ai, a small city near Bethel, was 
attacked by three thousand Israelites, 
who were ignominiously beaten. Joshua 
and the elders were told that the cause of this 
reverse was that there was a ‘devoted’ thing in their 
midst. (Josh. vii. 2-15.) On enquiry being made it 
was found that Achan, the son of Carmi, of the clan of 
the Zerahites of the tribe of Judah, had taken some of 
the spoil and hidden it in his tent. After Joshua had 
begged him to give glory to the God of Israel by 
confessing his sin, he was led to the valley of Achor 
(trouble), his plunder was burned, and he and his family 
were stoned. Ai was again attacked, and captured 
by means of an ambuscade. (Josh. viii. 10-29.) 


Jericho 
destroyed. 


Israel 
repulsed: Ai, 


56 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. VIII. 


After the destruction of Ai, Joshua led 
the Israelites to Shechem, and in accord- 
ance with the commands of Jehovah to 
Moses, built an Altar of unhewn stones and offered 
sacrifices. On the stones he wrote a copy of the laws 
of Moses, and after stationing half the people on Mount 
Gerizim and half on Mount Ebal, the blessings and 
cursings of the Law were recited. (Josh. viii. 30-35.) 

The Israelites next made an alliance 
with the four cities to the south-west of 

i, confederated under the leadership of 
Gibeon. This treaty was obtained by craft. The envoys 
pretended to come from a distant land, and appeared in 
the guise of travellers whose clothes and provisions 
shewed traces of a long and weary journey. ‘The people 
rashly pledged themselves by oath to enter into a treaty 
with the Gibeonites; but when the fraud was dis- 
covered, though their lives and cities were spared, they 
were made slaves to the sanctuary of Jehovah as a 
punishment for their deceit. (Josh. ix.) 

The news of the treaty that had been 
made between the Gibeonites and the 
Israelites was a signal for war in Southern 
Canaan. Five Amorite kings attacked the allies of 
Israel, who at once summoned Joshua to their aid. 
Joshua, after a hurried night march, fell on the Amorites, 
who fled from the hills by way of the descent of 
Beth-horon. ‘The five kings took refuge in the cave of 
Makkedah, where they were imprisoned until the pursuit 
was over, and then slain. (Josh. x. 1-27.) It was on 
this occasion that Joshua prayed, saying: Sun, stand 
thou still upon Gibeon. (Josh. x. 12-14.) This 
account of the miracle is given as a poetical narrative in 
the book of Jashar, which was a collection of songs and 
ballads about national heroes. 

This battle ended Joshua’s first campaign, giving the 


Assembly 
at Shechem. 


The 
Gibeonites. 


The Five 
Kings. 


cH. vi.] THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 57 


Israelites possession of the highlands of Central 
Palestine by making them masters of the path of 
Beth-horon, which led to the Shephelah or Maritime Plain 
on the west, and to the roads, formerly commanded by 
Jericho, leading from the western hills to the Arabah. 
From Makkedah the Israelites sacked 
j ae of Libnah, Lachish, and Eglon, and then 
; marched eastward and sacked Hebron 
and Debir. (Josh. x. 29-43.) 

The account, however, in Judges i. 8-21 leads us to 
infer that the effects of this conquest were not lasting, as 
the narrative represents the conquest of Canaan by 
Israel as a slow and gradual process, attained less by the 
united efforts of the whole nation than by the isolated 
enterprises of the tribes. 


Joshua in Only one other campaign is recorded 
Northern as having been undertaken by Joshua 
Israel. when Jabin, king of Hazor in the north, 


was overthrown in a decisive battle at the Waters of 
Merom. In this instance the Israelites are said to have 
shewn far less zeal in destroying the cities of their 
enemies than in the earlier expeditions. They had 
evidently come to regard themselves as settlers, and to 
look upon cities as desirable for future use. (Josh. xi. 1-14.) 

Only two tribes received their inherit- 
ance from Joshua. The house of Judah 
obtained the territory of the Five Kings; 
and Caleb, as a reward for having been faithful when he 
spied out the land forty-five years before, had permission 
to wrest Hebron from the Anakim. 

The powerful house of Joseph, of which Joshua was 
himself a member, received Central Palestine. Mount 
Ephraim, as the district was called, became the centre 
of Israelite life. Here was Shechem, where Joseph was 
buried; Shiloh, the resting place of the Sanctuary; 
Timnath-Serah, the inheritance of Joshua; and Gibeah, 


The Division 
of the Land. 


58 ' BIBLICAL HISTORY. ‘fou, vir. 


the home of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest. 
(Josh. xix. 49, 50; xxiv. 33 marg.) 

The tribes of Reubenand Gad had asked 
Moses to give them the district conquered 
from Sihon, as their flocks were numerous, 
and they preferred to lead a pastoral life. They shared, 
however, in the campaign in Western Palestine, and at its 
conclusion were dismissed by Joshua to their own country. 

As soon as they had departed to their 

The Altar inheritance they erected an altar by the 
erected by ; 

Reuben andGag, Jordan. The part of the nation that 

occupied the western country, regarding 

this as an act of apostasy from Jehovah, prepared to 

march against them, but before doing this they sent an 

embassy headed by Phinehas the son of Eleazar, asking, 

Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, that ye must 
turn away this day from following the Lord ? 

The Eastern tribes earnestly repudiated any such in- 
tention, declaring that they had only built the altar in 
token that they too hada portion in Israel; and to silence 
the objection that the children of their Western brethren 
might make by asking, What have ye to do with 
Jehovah the God of Israel? for Jehovah hath made 
Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of 
Reuben and children of Gad, they added that they had no 
idea of using the altar for sacrificial purposes: it was to 
be simply a memorial. This answer satisfied the Western 
tribes, and the altar was called Ed, for it is a witness 
(ed) between us that the Lord is God. (Josh. xxii.) { 

The seven tribes which had received 

j no inheritance were assembled at Shiloh. 

“ eeanaeen At Joshua’s command, three representa- 

Territory. tives from each tribe were sent to divide 

the land into suitable inheritances. On 

their return Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh in 
the presence of Jehovah. (Josh. xviii—xix.) 


Eastern 
Tribes. 


Seven Tribes 


CH. VIII.} THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 59 


Before his death, Joshua assembled the 
people at Shechem and delivered a dis- 
course on the history of the nation, 
pointing out Jehovah’s faithful care of them. He 
accordingly exhorted the people to put away the false 
gods, and to worship Him only. As for me and my 
house, we will serve Jchovah. 

Joshua then made a covenant with the people, and 
established a statute and ordinance for them in Shechem. 
(Josh. xxiv. 1-25.) 


Death of 
Joshua. 


Assembly at 
Shechem. 


Joshua died at the age of a hundred 
and ten, and was buried on his own land 
in Timnath-serah. With him the Mosaic 
age ended, and the pure worship of antiquity, we are 
told, only lasted until all his companions were dead. 
(Josh. xxiv. 29-31.) 


SUMMARY. 


The Book of Joshua falls into three main divisions :— 


(1.) 1.—xi. An account of the conquest of Canaan. 

(az) Joshua crossed the Jordan and destroyed 
Jericho. 

(b) He then tried to seize the highlands of 
Benjamin, but at first failed owing to the 
sin of Achan. 

(c) After Ai was taken, Joshua and the people 
went to Ebal and Gerizim, and read the 
Law, as Moses had commanded them. 
(Deut. xxvii.) 

(d) The Gibeonites obtained an alliance by 
fraud, and were attacked by the five 
kings: Joshua rescued them, defeated 
the kings of the South and devastated 
their land. 

(c) Finally, Joshua took Northern Palestine 
from Jabin, king of Hazor. 


60 - BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. VIII, 


XXII. The division of the Land. 

(z) Only two tribes were assigned land by 
Joshua himself, namely Judah and Joseph 
(Ephraim and Manasseh), so the remaining 
seven tribes were given unconquered terri- 
‘tory by lot. 

(b) Reuben, Gad,and the half tribe of Manasseh 

returned to their lands on the east of Jordan, 

after they had explained that the altar 
which they had set up was not intended to 
be a schismatic act, but as a memorial. 


(3.) XXIII.—xXxXIV. The last discourses of Joshua, and the 
deaths of himself and Eleazar. 





CA cee 


CHAPTER IX, 


THE PERIOD OF DHE JUDGES. 
Judges, Ruth. 


The Book of Judges is an historical 
survey of a period probably extending 
over more than three centuries. It was 
a period of transition from a nomadic existence to that of 
a settled nation. It was marked by the increase of the 
tribal as opposed to the national spirit, partly owing to the 
difficulty of intercommunication because of the character 
of the territory they occupied, and also to the absence of 
any strong religious impulse which might tend to weld 
the tribes together. 

They had by this time become an Uae atutal people, 
and, like other Semitic nations, believed that every field, 
well, and tree had its own’ god or “‘ Baal’, who was entitled 
to receive certain dues and rites of worship from his 
human tenants. This made their religion local instead 
of national, and caused them to identify Jehovah with 
the Baal of the land. Hence arose the danger of Jehovah 
being regarded as no more than one of the many local 
gods. 


Period of 
Transition, 


For the sake of clearness the history 
of the time may be related as a series 
of tribal narratives, and arranged 
geographically. 


History of the 
Tribes. 


In Judges, the Trans-Jordanic tribes, 
Reuben and Gad, do not appear to 
have had much sympathy with their brethren beyond 
Jordan. 


Eastern tribes. 


od 


62 . BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH oIX, 


Instances of this unfriendliness are as follows: 


(1) The refusal of the men of Succoth and Penuel to 
help Gideon in his pursuit of Zebah and Zal- 
munna, for which he punished them on his 
return. (Judg. viii. 5-17.) 


(2) The slaughter of the Ephraimites at the 
fords of Jordan by Jephthah. Every man 
who could not pronounce the test word ‘shib- 
boleth’, but betrayed his Ephraimitish origin 
by saying “sibboleth’, was slain. (Judg. xii. 
1-6.) 


(3) The indecision of the Reubenites, which pre- 
vented them from joining in the league against 
Sisera. (Judges v. 15, 16.) 


The only judge raised up in Eastern 
Palestine was Jephthah, who was a man 
of illegitimate (7.e., not pure Israelite) birth. He de- 
livered the Gileadites from Ammon, and afterwards 
fought and defeated the Ephraimites, who had resented 
what they regarded as an encroachment on their privilege 
of leadership in Israel. 

Jephthah is best known for his tragic vow to Jehovah, 
made before the war with Ammon, in which he swore 
that whosoever came forth from the doors of his house to 
meet him when he returned in peace from the children 
of Ammon should be Jehovah’s, and he would offer him 
up for a burnt offering. At Mizpah his only daughter 
came to meet him, to his great grief. He rent his clothes, 
and said: Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me 
very low; .... for I have opened my mouth unto the 
Lord, and I cannot go back. She asked only a respite 
of two months, to depart with her companions to the 
mountains. On her return, we are told that her father 
did with her according to his vow which he had 


Jephthah. 


CHyixs} THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES. 63 


vowed. Every year the maidens of Israel celebrated 
her death. (Judg. xi. 30-40.) 

With the permission of Jehovah, Judah 
and Simeon, accompanied by the sons of ( 
Hobab, went up and fought against Adoni- 
bezek, a ferocious monarch, under whose 
table seventy kings, deprived of their thumbs and great 
toes, used to be fed with broken meat. His conquerors 
treated him with like barbarity, and he died at Jerusalem, 
acknowledging the justice of his fate: As I have done, 
so God hath requited me. (Judg. i. 7.) 

The city of Hebron was taken by Caleb from the 
Anakim chiefs, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai; and Caleb 
promised his daughter Achsah to the man who should 
take Kiriath-sepher, afterwards called Debir. By the 
capture of this city of Kiriath-sepher, Othniel the son of 
Kenaz won her. (Judg.i. 10-15.) He afterwards delivered 
Israel from the king of Mesopotamia. (Judg. iii. 8-10.) 

North of Judah lay the small tribe of 
Benjamin. Protected alike by the tribes 
of Joseph and Judah, the Benjamites were distinguished 
by their powerful individuality. From them arose 
the second deliverer of Israel—Ehud, who rescued 
his country from the oppression of Eglon, king of Moab, 
by stabbing him. He then escaped to the highlands of 

Ephraim and sounded the alarm. The people forthwith 
assembled, and seizing the fords of the Jordan, slew ten 
thousand Moabites. (Judg. iii. 12-30.) 
The Benjamite war, related in the later 
The Benjamite 
War. chapters of Judges, was caused by the 
refusal of the Benjamites to deliver 
up the murderer of the wife of a Levite. The result 
was that nearly all the tribe was annihilated, with the 
exception of six hundred men who took refuge in 
the Cliff of Rimmon. These survivors were allowed 
to provide themselves with wives by seizing the 


Southern tribes; 
(a) Judah and 
Simeon ; 


(b) Benjamin. 


64 RIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. IX. 


maidens as they danced at the vintage festival in Shiloh. 
(Judg. xix.—xxi.) 

The tribe of Issachar had little peace 
in their fertile valley in the plain of 
Esdraelon. Sisera, the captain of Jabin, 
king of Hazor, seized Harosheth of the Gentiles on the 
east of Carmel, and from thence he mightily oppressed 
the children of Israel. 

The nation was roused to action by a prophetess 
named Deborah, who sent to Kedesh-Naphtali, sum- 
moning a chieftain named Barak to assemble the 
northern tribes to Mount Tabor, and from thence to 
make an attack on Sisera. Barak refused to undertake 
so great an enterprise unless Deborah went with him; 
and she agreed to go, after warning him that he would 
not gain honour by the expedition, for Jehovah would 
sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. (Judg. iv. 9.) 

This war was a national undertaking, and was the 
only occasion on which a large number of tribes 
acted against a foreign enemy. The only tribes that 
did not partake in this confederacy were the Israelites 
who lived in Eastern Palestine, and the tribes of 
Dan and Asher, who were in no position to answer the 
call. 

Barak’s victory was absolutely decisive. Sisera tried 
to escape to his camp at Harosheth, but finding his 
retreat cut off he turned southward to a place called 
Zaanannim, to the tent of Heber the Kenite. There 
he was met by Jael, Heber’s wife, who offered him 
hospitality ; and when he had been lulled to sleep by 
her deception she either smote him down with the great 
tent-hammer or drove a peg through his temples as he 
slept. The result of the victory was that never again 
did the Canaanites disturb Israel. It was commemorated 
in one of the finest songs in Hebrew literature, the Song 
of Deborah. (Judg. v.) 4 


Northern 
tribes. 


CH. Ix. | THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES. 65 


The tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim, 
; who held Central Palestine, for centuries 
Ephraim and } y 
Manasseh, Occupied the first place in Israel. The 
(Gideon.) one great deliverer of Israel who sprang 
from the house of Joseph was Gideon, the 
son of Joash the Abiezrite, of the tribe of Manasseh, wl o 
was called by the Angel of Jehovah while he was thresh- 
ing wheat, to deliver his countrymen from the Midianites, 
who had oppressed them for seven years. He built an 
Altar in the place where the Angel had called him, which 
he named Jehovah-shalom (Jehovah is peace). That 
night he cut down the grove and destroyed the altar of 
Baal. This he did under cover of darkness, and his father 
was ordered to bring forth his son to be punished for sacri- 
lege. He replied, Let Baal plead (Jerub-baal). So 
Gideon was known as Jerub-baal. The Spirit of God 
then descended upon him, and he assembled first of all 
his own clan of Abiezer and the tribes of Manasseh, 
Asher, Zebulon and Naphtali. After receiving the 
signs from God of the fleece dry when the ground was 
wet, and wet when the ground was dry, he was told to 
put his army of thirty-two thousand to a two-fold trial. 
The first was that all those who feared were ordered to 
depart, which reduced his host to ten thousand men; and 
the second was that only those who, when taken to the 
spring of Harod, drank by putting their hands to their 
mouths, were allowed to remain, which left Gideon with 
only three hundred men. 

Gideon then ordered the three hundred men to 
approach the enemy’s camp at night with torches 
concealed in pitchers, and to throw the Midianites 
into confusion by suddenly breaking their pitchers and 
shewing their lights. Gideon himself, with his servant 
Purah, had previously gone down to the Midianites’ 
camp and heard a soldier telling his companion 
how he had dreamed of a_ barley cake that upset 


Central tribes: 


F 


66 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. Ix. 


his tent. The friend replied: This is nothing else 
save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash: into his 
hand the Lord will deliver Midian and all his host. 
Gideon, thus encouraged, gave the words of the interpre- 
ter’s dream as the watchword for the night—The sword 
of the Lord and of Gideon. 

The Midianites, hearing the shouts of the Israelites, 
and suspecting treason in their own camp, began to fight 
with one another and to flee in confusion. Then the 
tribes of Naphtali and Asher and Manasseh joined in the 
pursuit; and when the fugitives reached the fords of the 
Jordan they found that the men of Ephraim had been 
warned to intercept their passage. Their two chiefs, 
Oreb and Zeeb, were slain by the Ephraimites. 

Here Gideon turned aside the jealous wrath of Ephraim 
by his modest reply to their reproaches at not having 
called them to the battle. Is not the gleaning of the 
grabes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abtezer? 
(Judg.vit.> iil, 1-3.) 

He then pursued the rest of the Midianites and their 
kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, threatening vengeance on 
the men of Succoth and Penuel for their refusal to aid 
him, a threat which he carried out on his return. He 
surprised the Midianite army, and slew the two kings, 
because they had murdered his brothers. He refused 
the crown offered him by the grateful Israelites, but 
asked for the ear-rings of the Midianites, with which he 
made an ephod or image, and established a sanctuary at 
Ophrah. He lived in some state, and had a large harem 
and many sons. A concubine bore him a son named 
Abimelech, who was destined to prove the ruin of his 
family. (Judg. viii. 4-32.) 

After the death of Gideon, Israel went 
a-whoring after the Baalim and made 
Baal-berith their god. The worship of. Baal-berith 
(The Lord of the Covenant) probably means that the 


Abimelech. 


CH. IX.) THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES. 67 


Israelites and Canaanites of Shechem and the neighbour- 
hood formed a confederacy under the protection of a 
deity, who may possibly have been regarded as Jehovah 
Himself. | 

The mother of Abimelech was probably of Canaanitish 
birth. The Shechemites, at Abimelech’s suggestion, gave 
him the whole support of their confederacy, and supplied 
him with money taken out of the temple of their cove- 
nant. Abimelech hired a gang of ruffians and put sixty- 
nine of his brothers to death; only one of them, Jotham, 
the youngest son of Gideon, escaped. The Shechemites 
anointed Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that 
was in Shechem. (Judg. ix. 1-6.) 

When Jotham learned what had 
happened, he took his stand on Mount 
Gerizim, from whence he spoke a parable 

or fable. The trees, he said, wanted a king, so they 
invited the most valued of their number to undertake the 
office. The olive, the fig tree, and the vine all declined 
to leave their useful function of bearing fruit to wave 
themselves over the other trees. When, however, the 
bramble was asked, he agreed with alacrity, saying, 
Come, and put your trust in my shadow; and tf not, 
let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars 
of Lebanon. The meaning of the fable is that worthy 
men cannot afford to leave their work for the unprofit- 
able office of a ruler, which the worst of men, like 
Abimelech, eagerly grasp at. (Judg. ix. 7-21.) 

The men of Shechem soon became tired of Abimelech, 
and during the annual vintage festival they openly 
renounced their allegiance. Gaal, the son of Ebed, was 
their leader; but Abimelech crushed the revolt, took 
Shechem and burned a thousand Shechemites alive. He, 
however, was killed at Thebez, a town north of Shechem, 
where he was smitten by a millstone which a woman on 
the wall threw on his head. (Judg. ix. 23-57.) 


Jotham’s 
Parable. 


68 BIBLICAL HISTORY. Kode ws 


The Philistines, the most formidable 
foe to Israel, probably arrived in Canaan 
from the Egyptian Delta in the days of the Judges. 
They settled in the great plain on the coast, but soon 
save their name—Palestine—to the whole country. 
Their five chief cities were Gath, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod, 
and Ashkelon. They differed from the other foes of 
Israel in the following respects :— 

(1) Unlike the Hebrews and their kindred, they did 
not adopt the practice of circumcision. 

(2) Whereas other invaders had come to plunder, 
the Philistines came to stay and rule. 

The Danites, at the time of the birth 
of their great hero, had been driven by 
the Philistines from the coast to the 
upper part of the Valley of Sorek. The wife of a 
Danite named Manoah, belonging to the town of Zorah, 
was warned by a Divine Messenger that she was 
destined to bear a son who was to be dedicated to 
Jehovah as a Nazirite from the womb, in token of which 
his mother was commanded to abstain from wine and 
strong drink, and to observe the laws of ceremonial 
purity with unusual care. When the child was born he 
received the name of Samson, and as he grew up he 
shewed clearly that he was moved by the spirit of 
Jehovah. (Judg. xiii.) 

(1) On his way to visit his Philistine 
bride at Timnah a lion attacked him, 
which he rent as a man would rend a 
kid. On his return he found honey in its carcase; so 
when the day of his marriage feast arrived he pro- 
pounded this riddle :— 

Out of the eater came forth meat, | 

Out of the strong came forth sweetness, 
making a wager of thirty linen garments and changes of 
raiment that none of his thirty companions would guess 


The Philistines. 


The Danites: 
Samson. 


Some of his 
exploits. 


CH. IX.] THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES. 69 


it. They however threatened to burn the bride in her 
house if she could not extract the secret from her 
husband. On the last day of the feast Samson’s friends 
asked him, 
What ts sweeter than honey ? 
What ts stronger than a lion ? 
Samson replied in a rude rhyme, which may be 
rendered, 
Had ye ploughed not with my cow, 
My riddle had perplexed you now. 

(2) He then left his bride, made a journey of two days 
to Ashkelon, smote thirty Philistines, and paid his wager 
with their garments. (Judg. xiv.) 

(3) Because his father-in-law gave his wife to another, 
Samson drove three hundred foxes, with a firebrand tied 
between the tails of each pair, into the Philistines’ corn. 

(4) Because the men of Timnah burnt his wife and 
father-in-law, Samson attacked them and smote them 
hip and thigh with a great slaughter, and then retired to 
the Cliff of Etam. (Judg. xv. 1-8.) 

(5) Three thousand men came to take him, and bound 
him with new ropes. He burst the ropes and slew a 
thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass at 
Ramath-Lehi (the height of the jawbone). At his 
prayer God clave the hollow place in Lehi, and water 
gushed out. Hence the name of the well was called 
En-Hakkore (the well of him that called). 

(6) When Samson was encompassed by the Philistines 
in Gaza he bore the gates of the city to Hebron, some 
twelve miles away. (Judg. xvi. 1-3.) 

(7) He was ruined by the wiles of Delilah, to whom 
he revealed the secret of his strength, namely his long 
hair. He was captured by his foes, who put out his eyes. 
When his hair began to grow again his wondrous strength 
returned once more; and he was led into the temple 
of Dagon to make sport for his masters. Resting his 


70 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cH. 1x. 


hands upon the two pillars on which the house was 
supported, he prayed for strength, and then bowed him- 
self with all his might. The temple fell: So the dead 
which he slew at his death were more than they which 
he slew in his life. (Judg. xvi. 4-31.) 
| The stories concerning the individual 
exploits of the great Danite judge are 
supplemented by the account of how six 
hundred Danite warriors left the camp of Dan and formed 
a settlement in the extreme north of Palestine, where they 
set up a famous sanctuary to Jehovah. Before they set 
out they sent five representatives of their clan to seek 
a suitable place. As they passed through the highlands 
of Ephraim they met a young Levite of Bethlehem whom 
they knew. He told them he was acting as priest to a 
man called Micah, who had set up a private sanctuary 
out of the treasure amassed by his mother. They then 
went on, and found a peaceful city of the Zidonians, 
called Laish. On their return they advised their tribes- 
men to secure so favourable a spot, and on their way 
north they took the young Levite and Micah’s household 
gods for their sanctuary, which afterwards became 
famous in the days of the Northern Kingdom. 
Object of The object of the Author of the Book 
the Author of Judges was to shew by stern precept 
of the Book of and example the awful consequences of 
Judges. forsaking the true worship of Jehovah. 
For the strength of Israel rapidly waned; the nation 
could not look after itself, and so every man did that 
which was right in his own eyes. 
The tory of It is a relief to turn away our gaze 
Ruth. from the contemplation of those wild 
days to something more peaceful and 
beautiful in the story of Ruth. |Elimelech and his 
family were driven away by stress of famine from 
Bethlehem-Judah to Moab. ‘There his two sons Mahlon 


The Danite 
Sanctuary. 


CH. IX.] THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES. 71 


and Chilion married, and both he and they died, leaving 
the widowed Naomi and her daughters-in-law. Both 
wished to go with the mother of their husbands to her 
old home, and one of them named Ruth refused to leave 
her. The two women found a kindly reception at 
Bethlehem; and Ruth, when she went to the field of 
Boaz, the kinsman of her husband, who had heard of her 
fidelity to Naomi, was treated with marked favour and 
allowed to glean among the maidens of the household. 

Knowing that Ruth had a legal right to claim the 
protection of Boaz, Naomi told her to lay herself at his 
feet.as he slept after the harvest feast. On discovering 
her, Boaz declared that he would take her to wife if the 
man who was more closely akin to her husband than he, 
and might marry her if he chose, should refuse to do so. 

Boaz himself took his seat at the city gate, and after 
‘inviting the nearest kinsman of Mahlon, Ruth’s husband, 
to sit by him together with ten of the elders, asked him 
whether he was ready to accept the obligation of 
continuing Mahlon’s line by marrying Ruth, for by this 
means alone could he redeem the property of the dead 
man. On his refusal, Boaz formally accepted the duty 
of acting as next of kin to the dead, and took Ruth to be 
his wife. The son of this marriage was Obed, the grand- 
father of David. Thus Ruth the Moabitess became one 
of the ancestresses of Our Lord. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) The account in Judges of the conquest of the Land 
tells us that it was subdued, not by a general 
national effort, but by individual tribes, acting 
sometimes in concert, as Judah and Simeon, but 
often independently. The idea given is that the: 
conquest was extremely partial, and the former 
inhabitants were still powerful. 


72 | BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cH. Ix. 


(2.) The generation that had known Joshua remained 
faithful to Jehovah, but then Israel forsook Hitr¢ 
and served the gods of the Canaanites. 

(3.) Then follows the history of the nation under twelve 
Judges, six of whom are the subject of special 
notice: z.¢e., Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Barak, 
Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. 

The six minor Judges were—Shamgar, the successor 
of Ehud; ola and Jair, who followed Gideon; 
Ibzan, Elon and Abdon, who succeeded Jephthah. 

(4.) The episode of Abimelech and the Shechemites is 
then related. 

(5.) Two incidents are recorded at the end of the book, 
to shew the lawlessness of the times :— 

(i) The adventures of the Danites, who made 
a new settlement and took away Micah’s 
ephod. 
(ii) The outrage at Gibeah and the Benjamitish 
war. 
The story of the Book of Ruth is related in this 

Chapter, as a contrast to the general lawlessness of the 

times. 


CEA RT To. 


PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING. 
Ee Samitel st X1T, 


After the death of Phinehas, the grand- 
son of Aaron, the book of Judges makes 
no mention of the national sanctuary. The Ark of the 
Covenant appears to have been neglected, and the de- 
scendants of Aaron do not appear to have had any 
influence. 

But in I. Samuel we find Israel under the guidance of a 
priest at Shiloh. The reason possibly is that the 
Israelites, seeing no hope of deliverance from their 
Philistine oppressors, had turned for consolation to the 
Sanctuary of Jehovah, and had found in His priest a 
wise and upright Judge. 

Eli was not even a member of the family of Eleazar 
and Phinehas, but a descendant of Ithamar, the youngest 
son of Aaron. Yet it must have been owing to his 
influence that the Ark had again become the centre of 
the religious life of Israel. 

Re tsenetnars Shiloh had been a sanctuary from 

SP Rhiloh: ancient times. 

(1) The Ark and the Tabernacle were 
placed there after the Israelites had left Gilgal. 
(2) There Joshua is said to have divided the Land 
by lot among the tribes. (Josh. xviii., xix.) 
(3) A festival to Jehovah was held there annually. 
(Judg. xxi. 19.) 


Eli. 


74 ) BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH xs 


The Sanctuary at Shiloh was placed, 
like a Canaanite sanctuary, on an emi- 
nence within the city; and its materials 
were more durable than those of the ancient Tabernacle. 
(Jer. vii. 12.) But its arrangements were of the simplest, 
for the Ark alone is mentioned, with a single lamp 
burning before it, and the only officials appear to have 
been Eli, his sons Hophni and Phinehas, and their 
servant. | 

Its ceremonies, too, do not seem to have been very 
elaborate; for the people were wont to come to Shiloh 
to offer annual sacrifices of peace-offerings, concluding 
with a meal, part of the victims being reserved by custom 
farithe ‘priests: ii (losamuieg sien 7a) 

Eli’s functions appear to have been 
twofold, for as judge he must have 
decided the disputes of the people, and as priest have 
regulated the conduct of those who came to worship. 

As long as Eli was able to control 
affairs all seems to have gone well, but 
when his sons took over his duties the priestly judgeship 
fell into disrepute. Hophni and Phinehas sinned against 
the Lord by their greed, and also by their immorality, in 
spite of their father’s protests: If a@ man sin against 
the Lord, who shall intreat for him? But they would 
not listen to their father, because the Lord would slay 
them. (1 Sam. ii.) 

At this crisis Jehovah raised up a 
prophet. Elkanah, a native of Rama- 
thaim-Zophim in Mount Ephraim, had 
two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. They came every 
year to Shiloh to make their offerings to the Lord. On 
one occasion, his favourite wife, Hannah, who had no 
children, stayed behind, and prayed to Jehovah, and 
vowed that if He would give her a son, he should be a 
Nazirite, dedicated to the service of the Lord all his 


Eli’s 
Sanctuary. 


Eli’s functions. 


Eli’s sons. 


Birth of 
Samuel. 


CH.x.J = PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING. 75 


life. As she prayed silently, Eli at first mistook her for 
a drunken woman and rebuked her; but on learning the 
true cause of her emotion, he dismissed her with his bless- 
ing. Her prayer was heard, and she bore ason, whom she 
named Samuel (Heard of God). As soon as he was 
weaned, he was brought to Eli, and solemnly dedicated 
to minister before Jehovah. (1 Sam.i.) His birth was 
the occasion of a Song, attributed to his mother Hannah, 
which finds an echo in the Magnificat of the Blessed 
Virgin. 

Before the child Samuel could enter 
upon the active work of his life, Eli was 
twice warned of disaster to Israel and of ruin to himself 
and his family because of the sins of his twosons. ‘The 
priesthood was to pass from his family, which was to lie 
under a curse; and asa sign, Eli was told that both his 
sons would die on the same day. (1 Sam. ii. 27-36.) 

From childhood Samuel seems to have 

Samuel at ‘ 

Shiloh, been regarded as priest rather than as an 

attendant at the sanctuary. He wore 

the linen ephod of the priesthood, and every year his 

mother brought a tunic specially made for her son, which 

only persons of rank appear to have worn. He did not 

minister to Eli as Joshua did to Moses, but is described 
as ministering to the Lord before Eli. (1 Sam. iii. 1.) 

One night, when Samuel was asleep, probably in 
the very presence of the Ark, he was called by name. 
Thrice did he run to Eli thinking that he had been 
summoned by him, and the third time Elz perceived 
that the Lord had called the child. He told Samuel 
to answer the Voice, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant 
heareth. ‘Thus the child learned the doom decreed by 
Jehovah against His priests. Eli solemnly adjured him 
to tell him what he had heard, and on learning it 
exclaimed, It is the Lord; let Him do what see«#eth 
Him good. (1 Sam. iii. 18.) 


Message to Eli, 


76 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. x. 


About this time the Israelites appear to 
have resolved to make an effort against 
their oppressors. They attacked the Philistine camp at 
Aphek, but were defeated with a loss of four thousand 
men. They, however, decided to renew the contest, and 
to make victory certain fetched the Ark from Shiloh. 
But it proved no talisman to protect a faithless people, 
thirty thousand Israelites perished, Hophni and Phinehas 
were slain, and the Ark of God was taken. 

Death of Eli. A single fugitive brought the dreadful 

news to Shiloh. Eli was by this time 
ninety-eight years of age and blind. When he heard 
the sounds of woe, he asked what it meant, and on 
hearing the tidings that the Ark was taken, he fell from 
his seat where he was awaiting news, and died, for he 
was an old man, and heavy. ‘The wife of Phinehas 
gave birth to a son prematurely, calling him with her 
dying breath Ichabod (no glory), for the glory ts 
departed from Israel. (1 Sam. iv.) 

After the capture of the Ark by the 
Philistines, it was set up in the house of 
Dagon, the god of Philistia, in Ashdod, 
the city nearest the battle-field. But the image 
of Dagon was twice found thrown from its pedestal, 
and the second time was broken in pieces. At the same 
time the men of Ashdod were afflicted with emerods. 

In their terror, they sent the Ark to Gath, where 
pestilence at once broke out. It was then despatched to 
Ekron, but the men of Ekron would not receive it. The 
Ark remained in the land of the Philistines for seven 
months. At the end of that time five golden mice and 
five models of the boils by which the plague had mani- 
fested itself were put in a coffer as an atonement to 
Jehovah, and the Ark placed in a new cart to which 
two milch-kine were attached. These kine, lowing as 
they went, drew the cart to Beth-Shemesh, in time of 


The Ark taken. 


The wanderings 
of the Ark. 


CH? X.] PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING. 77 


harvest, where seventy men were slain for irreverently 
gazing on the Ark. (1 Sam. v.—vi. 18.) 

The men of Beth-Shemesh, therefore, besought the 
inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim to come down and receive 
the Ark. It rested for many years in the house of 
Abinadab, whose son Eleazar was appointed to look 
after it. (1 Sam. vi. 19-21; vii. 1.) Here it remained 
until the time of David. 

By the loss of the Ark i f 

peace link ane the age of Haier at 
loss of the Ark. ) } 
' the priesthood lost its power, and the 
Priest made way for the Prophet; the tribe of Ephraim, 
within whose borders the national sanctuary had been, 
lost their influence as leaders of the nation; and above 
all, the disaster was the sign of the withdrawal of 
Jehovah’s Presence from Israel. 

Samuel may well be called, after Moses, 
the Second Founder of the nation. His 
chief glory is that the Prophetical Dis- 
pensation is traced to him. For he founded 
the Schools of the Prophets, which continued to provide 
constant witnesses of Jehovah throughout Israel, drawn 
from every tribe and every class in the community. 

His judgeship was marked by peace and prosperity ; 
and in the enjoyment of.a purer religion and an orderly 
government, the people entered upon a more vigorous 
period of national life. Under Samuel the Israelites 
lived at peace with the Canaanites. 

Samuel secured the confidence of the 
people by gaining a victory over the 
Philistines, although on this occasion his 
conduct was that of a priest rather than of a general. 
He assembled the people at Mizpah, and exhorted them 
to turn to Jehovah. When the Philistines perceived 
Israel thus assembled together, they marched against 
them. The people begged Samuel Cease not to cry 


The rise of 
Samuel 
the Prophet. 


Battle of 
Ebenezer. 


78 ae BIBLICAL HISTORY. [cH. xX. 


unto the Lord eur God for us. A complete victory was 
gained by Israel, in memory of which Samuel set up 
the stone of help (Ebenezer), between Mizpah and Shen. 
(1 Sam. vii. 5-12.) 

Samuel had so impressed the people 
with the desire for a settled government, 
that when they found that his sons were 
not likely to walk in his steps, and that the Philistines 
had again become dangerous, they demanded that he 
should give them a king. At first he was reluctant to 
grant them their request, for to him the institution of a 
human monarchy seemed an act of disloyalty; but when 
Jehovah assured him that They have not rejected thee, 
but they have rejected Me, Samuel did not hesitate to 
obey the Divine command to anoint a king. (1 Sam. viii.) 

The asses of Kish, of the tribe of Ben- 
jamin, strayed, and his son Saul, accom- 
panied by a servant, was sent in search of 
them. In the course of their search they came to the 
home of Samuel, in the land of Zuph, and enquired for 
the ‘Seer’ that he might tell them where the lost asses 
were to be found. Samuel himself met them, and on 
their enquiring for the house of the seer, told them who 
he was and commanded them to come up to the high 
place. Samuel now told Saul that the asses were found, 
but that such things were no longer of importance, as 
the desire of all Israel was upon him and upon all his 
father’s house. At the feast that night, Saul was made 
the chief guest, and had honours paid him such as were 
usually only paid to those of priestly rank. 

At its close, Saul’s bed was made on the roof of 
Samuel’s house, and at dawn he was summoned by the 
seer and escorted to the city gate. The servant was 
then told to go on; and when he and Saul were alone, 
Samuel took the vial of oil which he had prepared, and 
anointed Saul to be king over Israel. (1 Sam. ix.; x. 1.) 


The Demand for 
a King. 


Saul comes to 
Ramah. 


CH. X.] PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING. 79 


That Saul might be certain that he had 
been appointed to this high office three 
signs were given to him, each with its own proper 
meaning. 

(1) As he came to the sepulchre of Rachel, the 
ancestress of the Benjamites, two men would 
come towards him to tell him that the asses he 
was in search of were found. In this way his 
private cares would cease. 

(2) By the oak of Tabor two men on their way to 
Bethel would meet him, who would present him 
with two loaves made from the first-fruits, in 
token of the honour in store for him as God’s 
representative. 

(3) Near a garrison of the Philistines at Gibeah he 
would meet a band of prophets, when the 
spirit of Jehovah would spring on him and he 
would be turned to another man, and would 
prophesy, in token that he who was before a 
simple citizen would become the equal of the 
prophets in spiritual strength and greatness. 

Saul was further instructed to go to Gilgal and to 
wait for Samuel for seven days. 

The signs came to him as Samuel had foretold, and 
when Saul was seen prophesying, the people in wonder 
said, Is Saul also among the prophets? To this the 
answer was, And who is their father ? implying that 
the prophetic office was a call direct from God. 
(1 Sam. x. 2-13.) 


Three Signs. 


On his return home Saul said nothing 

Saul chosen i 
King by lot. about what Samuel had told him, except 
that the seer had informed him that the 
asses were found. After this, Samuel assembled the 
tribes at Mizpah to choose a king by lot. The lot fell 
upon Saul, who was found concealed among the baggage. 
When he was brought forth higher than any of the 


80 ; BIBLICAL HISTORY. [cH. x. 


people from his shoulders and upward, Samuel pre- 
sented him to the people, and they all shouted God 
save the king! (1 Sam. x. 14-34.) 

At this time nothing further was done. But apparently 
the Benjamites were actually being driven out of their 
territory by the Philistines, and many were taking refuge 
beyond Jordan, when Samuel anointed Saul. Saul may 
well have been sent to Gilgal, the ancient camp of 
Joshua, to rally the fugitives, and from there he may 
have found supporters among the Eastern Israelites in 
his campaign against Ammon. For Saul, like Joshua, 
had to conquer Western Palestine from Gilgal. 

His opportunity soon came, for Na- 
hash, an Ammonite king, besieged Jabesh- 
Gilead. When the inhabitants asked for 
terms, he said that when they surrendered the place he 
would put out their right eyes as a reproach to all Israel. 
The elders of the city then asked for a week’s respite, 
promising to yield on the seventh day if no help appeared. 
On hearing of their distress, Saul hewed in pieces the 
oxen with which he was ploughing, and sent them 
throughout Israel with the message, Whosoever cometh 
not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be 
done unto his oxen. ‘The Israelites obeyed his call, 
and the Ammonites were so thoroughly beaten that not 
two of them were left together. After this striking 
victory Saul was firmly established on his throne as king 
of Israel. (1 Sam. xi.) 


The War with 
Ammon. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) The priestly judgeship of Eli at Shiloh; the birth 
of Samuel; the utter degradation of the priesthood, 
and the loss of the Ark. The Philistine yoke was 
now firmly planted on the neck of Israel; and 
although Jehovah saved His Ark from the 


one x PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING. 81 


indignity of remaining in a Philistine city and 
temple, it was not restored to Israel, but remained 
in seclusion at Kiriath-jearim. 

(2.) The judgeship of Samuel, and the demand of the 
people for a king. Samuel exhorted them to re- 
pent; and after a solemn national assent, the 
Philistines were attacked and defeated at Eben- 
ezer. Then followed a period of peace, during 
which Samuel exercised his office as judge. But 
as his two sons were corrupt judges, the people 
demanded a king. 

(3.) The appointment of Saul as king. He was privately 
anointed by Samuel, designated by Jehovah, and 
acknowledged by the people. His victory over 
Nahash, king of Ammon, made his throne secure. 


CHAPTER XI, 


THE REIGN OF SAUL. 


I. Samuel XQ1l ——xxxI. 


The war with the Philistines, waged by 
Saul, beginning at the camp of Gilgal, 
and ending with the battle at Ephes-dammim, where 
David slew Goliath, is his greatest title to fame. From 
the passes leading from the Jordan valley to the high- 
lands of Benjamin, he, in a few years, carried war into 
the Philistine country. 

The campaign opened with a successful assault by 
Jonathan on the Philistine garrison at Geba. ‘This 
victory stirred up an immense army of Philistines, which 
compelled Saul to retreat to Gilgal with only six hundred 
faithful warriors. 

Owing to the delay of Samuel in coming, Saul offered 
sacrifice at Gilgal, and for this want of faith he was told 
by the prophet that the kingdom would not remain in his 
family. 


Philistine War. 


In the meanwhile, Jonathan with his 
The war of 

Michmash,  2t™our-bearer, at Geba, made a success- 
ful sortie between two hills called Bozez — 
and Seneh. The two warriors, believing (to quote 
Jonathan’s words) that there is no restraint of Jehovah 
to save by many or by few, attacked so fiercely as 
totally to discomfit the enemy. From the heights of 
Gibeah Saul’s watchmen saw their enemies’ host melting 
away. Saul promptly went in pursuit of the demoralised 
Philistines, who fled before him, as the Canaanites 

centuries earlier had fled before Joshua. 


GH? x1. | THE REIGN OF SAUL. 83 


Saul then laid a curse upon anyone who should stop in 
the pursuit to refresh himself. Jonathan, ignorant of this 
command, tasted some honey in a wood; and when at the 
end of the day the oracle was consulted, his action was 
declared to be the cause of Israel’s offence. Saul would 
have slain him had not the people prevented him, saying, 
Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great 
salvation in Israel? (1 Sam. xiv. 45.) 

This campaign secured the territory of Benjamin for 
the Israelites, and in addition caused Saul to be acknow- 
ledged king by all the people. 

The next time the Philistines came into conflict with 
Saul was on the borders of their own territory in the 
neighbourhood of Gath. They were encamped at Ephes- 
dammim, and the Israelites were .entrenched on the 
eastern side. 

A new Israelite warrior was the cause of the victory 
of Ephes-dammim—David, the son of Jesse of 
Bethlehem, who slew the Philistine champion, Goliath 
of Gath. 

: Before the battle a scene occurred 

David and : : bbe ; 

Goan which reminds us of similar ones in 
classical history. The Philistine cham. 
pion of the day was a native of Gath, whose name 
Goliath, as well as his gigantic stature, marks him as one 
of the survivors of the ancient Canaanite dwellers in the 
Shephelah. In his panoply he stood over nine feet in 
height; but giant though he was, it was his magnificent 
armour which attracted most attention. Day by day 
Goliath challenged the Hebrews to send a man to decide 
by single combat whether Israel or Philistia should in 
future be the ruling nation. 

We have at this point two versions 
of what followed. One is that David the 
son of Jesse came from feeding his father’s 
flock to visit his brethren, and that the boy, hearing the 


Two Stories 
preserved. 


84 . BIBLICAL "HISTORY. [CH. XI. 


boastful Philistine defy the armies of the Living God, 
offered to fight with him. But the other version, pre- 
served in the Greek Bible, appears more probable,namely, 
that David was already a chieftain in Saul’s army, and 
as such was accepted by the king as Israel’s champion. 
Such confidence had Saul in his young armour-bearer, 
that he offered to lend him his own arms; but David 
must have known that to fight the Philistine upon even 
terms was to rush upon death. As he had not proved Saul’s 
armour, he preferred to trust to his shepherd’s staff 
and sling, which he had used with such effect to defend 
his sheep. Above all, he trusted in Jehovah, the God 
of the armies of Israel. As they faced each other, 
the two champions indulged in mutual taunts, Goliath 
vowing by his gods to give David’s carcase to the birds 
and beasts; and David replying, Thou comest to me 
with a@ sword and with a spear and with a javelin; 
but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, 
the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast re- 
proached. As the Philistine drew near, David's sling- 
stone smote him in the forehead, and he fell down dead. 
David immediately struck off his head. The victory 
gained by Israel on that day was as complete as possible. 
The Philistines took refuge in Gath and Ekron, and 
their camp was spoiled by the Israelites. 

The appearance of David is a turning-point in the 
career of Saul. But in the sacred narrative Saul’s rival 
is not introduced until it has been related. how the king 
lost the favour of Samuel. 

Saul had a noble nature, but in spite of 
his undoubted merits, there was some- 
thing which made it impossible for him 
to accomplish the work of developing the higher civilisa- 
tion of his people which Samuel expected him to perform. 
As aking he had to rule his people as well as to save 
them from their enemies. And this he could not do 


Saul’s 
Character. 


CH, XI. ] THE REIGN OF SAUL. 85 


without exercising the discipline of self-restraint, a quality 
in which he was sadly lacking. In addition to his lack 
of statesmanlike qualities, Saul seems completely to have 
misapprehended the duties of religion; for while Samuel 
insisted upon implicit obedience to the living voice of 
God, Saul had the idea that the essence of religion was 
the performance of ritual observances. This accounts 
for his rejection, and the choice of another to take his 
place. 
Tha Aiialekites. The war against the Amalekites was 
the final reason for his rejection from 
being king. The feud between this people and the 
Israelites was of long standing, in fact ever since the days 
of The Wanderings, and had continued throughout the 
time of the Judges. So Samuel proclaimed a holy war 
in the name of Jehovah against those implacable foes. 
Go and smite Amalek, and devote (to God for destruc- 
tion) all that they have, and spare them not. It was 
considered the height of profanity to make any profit out 
of a campaign of this nature; but Saul converted a 
religious war into a plundering expedition; for he only 
destroyed what was vile and refuse, and kept the best 
of the spoil, and carried with him Agag, the king of 
Amalek, to grace his triumph. 

Warned by Jehovah, Samuel presented himself before 
Saul, and, hearing no excuse, sternly rebuked him in the 
words, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to 
hearken than the fat of rams; for rebellion is as the 
sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and 
idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the 
Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king. 
Saul was now full of penitence; he clung to Samuel’s 
robe and rent it. The Lord hath rent the kingdom of 
Israel from thee, said the stern prophet, and hath given 
it to a neighbour of thine that ts better than thou. 
Before he left Saul’s presence, Samuel slew Agag 1 


86 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [cH. XI, 


the presence of Jehovah, as a victim devoted to death 
by Divine decree. (1 Sam. xv.) Samuel saw Saul 
no more, but mourned for him bitterly. 

Samuel, by God’s command, next went to Bethlehem 
and anointed David, the youngest son of Jesse, as Saul’s 
successor, after being warned that man looketh on the 
outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the 
heart. (1 Sam. xvi. 1-13.) 

After the slaying of Goliath, David was 
made the constant companion of Saul; 
and he and Jonathan became sworn 
friends. But as the women of Israel sang the praises of 
David after the slaying of Goliath, and ascribed tens of 
thousands of slain to David and only thousands to Saul, 
Saul began to dread him as a possible rival. As time went 
on the very sight of his servant became unendurable to 
the king, who removed David from his court by 
appointing him captain over a thousand men. 

When David was thus no longer in the royal presence, 
his popularity increased, and he found favour in the eyes 
of Michal, Saul’s daughter. Saul, hoping to entrap David, 
sent courtiers to suggest that he should become his son- 
in-law, and that he should pay the dowry by slaying a 
hundred Philistines. David disappointed Saul’s hope that 
his rashness would lead him to his death, and provided 
the dowry required. 

But Saul so dreaded David’s growing influence that he 
tried to persuade Jonathan and his courtiers to kill him. 
But Jonathan pleaded for his friend, and for a time Saul 
was reconciled to David. But in the next war David 
distinguished himself as usual, and Saul’s jealousy 
revived. Whilst David was playing, as was his wont, 
before Saul, the king suddenly brandished his spear at 
him, and David only just escaped. When he arrived at 
his house, he heard that Saul had sent men to kill him, 
and induced his wife, Michal, to put the household god 


Saul’s jealousy 
of David. 


CH xii) THE REIGN OF SAUL. 87 


(or teraphim) into his bed in order to deceive his pursuers. 
When the fraud was discovered Michal only escaped by 
declaring to her father that David would have slain her 
had she refused to help him. (1 Sam. xviii.; xix. 1-17.) 

David then joined Samuel and his prophetic company 
at Ramah, and the three bands of men sent to take him 
prophesied on beholding Samuel and his companions. 
When Saul came to the place, he, like his soldiers, 
experienced the prophetic ecstasy. For a day anda 
night he fell down naked, and prophesied in the presence 
of Samuel, so that men again asked, Js Saul also 
among the prophets ? (1 Sam. xix. 19-24. See also 
1 Sam. x. 12.) 

The character of Jonathan reveals 
itself in the interview he had with his 
friend before David finally resolved to 
escape from Saul. 

It was agreed between the two friends that on the 
morrow David should absent himself from the royal 
table, where he, Abner and Jonathan were daily 
accustomed to dine. If Saul should ask the reason for 
his non-appearance, Jonathan would say that David had 
requested leave to attend a family sacrifice at Bethlehem 
on the feast of the new moon. If Saul took this excuse 
in good part, it would be sufficient proof that his previous 
outbursts of wrath had no serious meaning. Otherwise 
David would have to take precautions for his safety. 

Jonathan agreed to meet David in the open country 
three days later; and he was to remain hidden behind 
the cairn, where he had concealed himself on the 
occasion of his first rupture with Saul. In view of the 
danger of communicating by word of mouth, Jonathan 
was to go forth as though to practise himself in archery. 
As he shot the arrows, and his attendant ran to pick 
them up, he would, if all was well, shout to him to bring 
them back. If, however, he told the boy that the arrows 


David and 
Jonathan. 


88 BIBLICAL HISTORY. PCH. xX: 


were beyond him, David would know that Saul’s purpose 
towards him was evil. 

On the first day Saul attributed David’s absence to 
ceremonial uncleanness. On the second he asked 
Jonathan the reason, and, on hearing that David had 
requested permission to go to Bethlehem, broke forth 
into violent reproaches. In siding with David, Jonathan, 
Saul declared, was injuring himself; since as long as 
David lived the dynasty was in peril. Calling Jonathan 
the child of a runaway slave (1 Sam. xx. 30, Sept.), 
the infuriated king hurled his spear at his son, and 
Jonathan left his table in fierce anger, knowing full well 
that David’s doom was sealed, should he fall into his 
father’s hands. (1 Sam. xx. 33, 34.) 

After visiting Samuel at Ramah, anda 
final interview with Jonathan, David took 
refuge with the priests at the sanctuary 
of Nob, where he persuaded Ahimelech, the high priest, 
to give him the sword of Goliath, and the shewbread. 
Saul’s chief herdsman, Doeg the Edomite, witnessed the 
transaction and told his master. The king would not 
listen to Ahimelech’s excuses and condemned all the 
priests at Nob to death. As his servants would not do 
this, Doeg had no scruple in performing the deed. 
Eighty-five priests were killed, and the city of Nob was 
put to the sword. Only Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, 
escaped to David. (1 Sam. xxi. 1-9; xxii. 6-20.) 

David then went to Achish, king of Gath, where he 
would have been put to death, had he not feigned 
madness and so escaped. | 

At the cave of Adullam he was joined by his family, 
and also by those who were in debt, or discontented with 
Saul’s rule. He was soon at the head of four hundred 
warriors, and thus became a powerful outlaw. He first 
went to Mizpeh of Moab, but by the advice of the 
prophet Gad he returned to Judah, and after committing 


The Massacre 
at Nob. 


Or, 3c, | THE REIGN OF SAUL. 89 


his father and mother to the care of the Moabite king, 
he went next to the forest of Hareth, and thence went 
to the rescue of Keilah from the Philistines, a city in 
the south of Judah. It was here that he was joined by 
Abiathar, who brought the priestly ephod. By this time 
his force was six hundred strong. (1 Sam. xxii. 1-5, 
XxXiii. 1-5.) 

As David distrusted the fidelity of the men of Keilah, for 
Saul had appeared in the south of Judah at the head of 
an army, he abandoned the city and took refuge in the 
wilderness of Ziph, south of Hebron. Here he was 
betrayed to Saul by the Ziphites, and would have been 
captured had not the king been recalled by the news of 
a Philistine invasion. ‘The place where he so narrowly 
escaped capture was called Sela-Hammahlekoth (the 
Cliff of Divisions). (1 Sam. xxiii. 28.) 

He then took refuge in the cliffs of 
Engedi, on the shores of the Dead Sea. 
The place is well suited to be the home 
of outlaws, abounding as it does in caverns where they 
can remain securely hidden. Here Saul incautiously 
placed himself in David’s power, and owed his life to 
the generous forbearance of his rival. But Saul and 
David were not reconciled; and the rest of the outlaw’s 
progress is marked by his steady growth in power and 
influence. (1 Sam. xxiv.) About this time Samuel died. 
A remarkable episode in David’s career led to his be- 
coming one of the great landowners in the south of Judah. 

) David supported his force of six hundred 

David and 

Nabal, men by levying what was formerly known in 
Scotland as “ blackmail’. He protected 

the principal landowners from all marauders, and exacted 
payment for his services. A certain noble, representing 
the great house of Caleb, refused to give David anything 
for guarding his flocks during the sheep-shearing, though 
he had been approached in the most courteous manner. 


David spares 
Saul. 


90 | BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XI. 


David having resolved to punish this churlish behaviour, 
ordered his men to gird on their swords, vowing he would 
not spare a man of Nabal’s household. Fortunately, 
however, Nabal’s wife, Abigail, heard what had happened, 
and went herself to meet David with an offering. She 
admitted to David that Nabal was rightly named—Fool 
(Nabal) is his name, and folly is with him. David 
accepted her present, at the same time thanking her for 
saving him from blood-guiltiness. Nabal died on hearing 
what had happened, and David married his widow. By 
this means he became a man of wealth and importance 
in southern Palestine. Knowing that the breach with 
Saul was irreparable, David went to Gath for the second 
time as an ally of Achish, and settled in Ziklag, where he 
remained till Saul’s death. (1 Sam. xxv.) 

The Philistines at this time decided to 

The end of ‘ : 
the life of Saul. attack Israel in the plain of Esdraelon, 

and assembled at Aphek, which fact 
alone shews that Saul had cleared the whole of Mount 
Ephraim of the Philistines. Whilst the Israelite army 
lay near the mountain in Jezreel, David was present with 
the Philistines, but as he was an object of suspicion to 
their princes, they insisted on his being sent back to 
Ziklag. (1 Sam. xxix.) 

Saul had been bereft for a long time of 
all guidance from Jehovah. In _ his 
former zeal for the worship of Jehovah, 
he had made the practice of divination a capital offence. 
But in his last extremity he consulted a woman who lived 
at Endor, fully twelve miles from mount Gilboa, who was 
believed to have a familiar spirit. He disguised himself 
and took only two companions, and demanded of the 
woman to bring up Samuel. When the woman saw the 
prophet she knew that her guest was Saul himself. 
On being asked what she saw, she said, J see gods 
coming out of the earth. Saul inquired, What form 


The Witch of 
Endor. 


CH. XI.) THE REIGN OF SAUL. 91 


is he of? She said, An old man cometh up, and he 
ts covered with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was 
Samuel, and bowed with his face to the ground and 
did obeisance. In this way he learned that defeat was 
in store for him. To-morrow, said the vision, shalt 
thou and thy sons be with me. Saul, on hearing his 
doom, fell his whole length on the ground and lay there 
insensible for a whole day. ~The woman made him take 
refreshment, killed a calf and prepared it for him; and 
Saul, having taken nourishment, returned to the camp. 
(1 Sam. xxviii.) 
The position taken by Israel on Mount 
bt as Gilboa was well chosen, as it commanded 
Mount Gilboa. ; 
both the valley of Jezreel, the trade route 
to Damascus, and the passage of the Jordan. The 
Philistine army succeeded in carrying the hill, and 
completely routed its defenders. Three sons of Saul 
were killed, and Saul himself, hard pressed by the 
Philistine archers, ordered his armour-bearer to slay 
him; and when this was refused he fell upon his own 
sword and died, as did his companion. 

The ruin of Israel seemed to be complete, for the very 
cities were abandoned to the Philistine conquerors. The 
armour of Saul was borne in triumph round the cities of 
the Philistines. His head was placed in the temple of 
Dagon, and his body, and those of his sons, fastened to the 
walls of the Canaanite town of Bethshan. (1 Sam. xxxi.) 

One deed of heroism relieves the dark- 

The men of 

Jabesh-Gilead, DeSs Of the scene. The men of Jabesh- 
Gilead had not forgotten their deliverer, 
for no sooner did they hear that Saul had been defeated, 
than they went by night to Bethshan and took the bodies 
of Saul and his sons from the city walls. These they 
burned, and buried the bones under a _ well-known 
tamarisk, fasting for seven days in honour of the dead. 
(1 Sam. xxxi. 11-13.) 


92 BIBLICAL HISTORY. NCH XI, 


The death of Saul is one of the saddest events in the 
history of Israel, and it is no easy task to account for the 
complete failure of his life. Yet even in the hour of his 
defeat the memory of his noble qualities moved David to 
join his name with that of his stainless son, and so de- 
clare that both were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
and in their death they were not divided. 

Darkness hides from us the last tragic scene. We 
know not whether Saul fell by his own hand, or by that 
of a man of the ‘devoted’ race of Amalek, in sparing 
which the king had sinned. (1 Sam. xxxi. 4; 2 Sam. i. 
9,10.) The vast but somewhat shadowy figure passes 
from the eyes of men, a solemn warning that no virtue 
can compensate for that self-discipline by which a man 
is qualified to become a leader among his fellows. 


SUMMARY. 
SAUL’S CAMPAIGNS. 


(1.) Jabesh-Gilead. Soon after he was appointed king, 
he rescued the men of Jabesh-Gilead from Nahash, 
the king of Ammon, and earned their lasting 
gratitude. 


(2.) Saul’s greatest achievement was the long war he 
waged with the Philistines, beginning at the camp 
at Gilgal, and ending with the battle at Ephes- 
dammim, where David slew Goliath. At the 
commencement of his reign Saul was fighting to 
conquer the passes leading from the Jordan valley 
to the highlands of Benjamin, but in the course of 
a few years he was able to carry the war into the 
Philistine country. In this campaign his im- 
pulsive character made him make two great 
mistakes. 


CH.) x1.4 THE REIGN OF SAUL, 93 


(i) He offended Samuel by not waiting for him 
at Gilgal, and so was told the kingdom 
would not remain in his family; and 


(ii) He robbed himself of the fruits of victory 
at Michmash by his rash curse on anyone 
who should taste food during that day; a 
curse to which Jonathan nearly fell an 
innocent victim. 


(3.) The war with the Amalekites. This was a holy 
war proclaimed by Samuel. Everything was to 
be destroyed. Saul was rejected from being king, 
for having spared the best of the spoil and Agag 
the king. 

(4.) The final campaign against the Philistines. Owing 
to the civil war between Saul and David, the 
Philistines regained some of their old ascendancy. 
Saul gave them battle at Mount Gilboa; his 
army was defeated, and he with his three sons 
were slain. 


SAUL AND SAMUEL. 


Saul’s conduct in offering sacrifice at Gilgal when he 
thought Samuel was not coming, and in sparing 
the spoil of the Amalekites for a great sacrifice 
to Jehovah, led to his rejection and the loss of the 
Prophet's friendship. 


DAVID. 


(1.) Anointed privately as king at Bethlehem. 

(2.) Plays before Saul and becomes his armour-bearer. 
(3.) Slays Goliath. 

(4.) Becomes a favourite of Saul, but incurs his jealousy. 
(5.) Wins Michal, Saul’s daughter, as his wife. 

(6.) His friendship with Jonathan. 


94 BIBLICAL HISTORY. {CH. XI. 


(7.) Escapes from Saul— 


(a) To Ramah; 

(b) To Nob, where the priests are slain; 

(c) To Achish ; 

(d) The cave of Adullam; 

(ce) In the wilderness of Judah at Keilah, Ziph, 
and Engedi, where he spares Saul’s life; 

(f) Marries Abigail ; 

(g) Becomes an ally of Achish, king of Gath, 
at Ziklag, till Saul’s death. 


Onl ie i) Mien WE Rell GD 


THE REIGN OF DAVID: 


HIS PROSPERITY. 
Li Samuel? 1.— xr. 


Ree It is not easy to determine the precise 
battle of Mount results of the Philistine victory over 
Gilboa. Israel upon Mount Gilboa, but it has been 
generally assumed that it was so decisive 
as to make the conquerors masters of Central as well as 
of Southern Palestine. For a time the Israelites are 
supposed to have become vassals to the ‘uncircum- 
cised’, and to have purchased peace by the payment of 
tribute. : 

One fact alone may be regarded as certain, namely, 
that whatever unity had existed in the days of Saul was 
destroyed at Gilboa, and Israel was for a time divided 
into rival and even hostile monarchies. 

Y After the battle of Mount Gilboa, 

The Kingdom of 
Ishbosheth. Abner, who had escaped the slaughter, 
rallied the scattered remnant of the army 
at Mahanaim, where he proclaimed Ishbosheth (or 
Eshbaal), son of Saul, king over Israel. But Ishbosheth 
seems to have inherited none of the great qualities of his 
father, and only to have reigned by the help of Abner. 
The sacred narrative tells us that Abner first made 
him king in Eastern Palestine over Gilead, and 
over the Ashurites, and then, crossing the Jordan, 
asserted his authority over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, 


96 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XII. 


and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. (2 Sam. ii. 
8-9.) The seat of the kingdom remained, however, at 
Mahanaim. 

David had left the army of Achish in 
the Plain of Esdraelon and returned to 
Ziklag. But when he got there he found 
that the town had been sacked by the Amalekites, and 
his own wives, Abigail and Ahinoam, together with the 
wives and children of his men, taken captive. So great 
was the indignation of David’s soldiers at their homes 
having been thus devastated, that they threatened to 
stone him. David's trust in Jehovah did not fail him 
even then; for he summoned Abiathar the priest, and 
enquired of God whether a pursuit would result in the 
recovery of the spoils. Thereply was favourable, and he 
advanced so rapidly that two hundred of his men were 
worn out when they reached the brook Besor. Leaving 
them there to guard the baggage, David and the four 
hundred remaining soldiers passed on till they found an 
Egyptian slave, whom the Amalekites had left to die in 
the desert. Having learned from him the position of the 
Amalekites, David attacked them during a feast held in 
celebration of their success. All the spoil was recovered 
and much booty besides. Thus David returned to Ziklag 
with the prestige of victory. He immediately sent rich 
presents from the spoil to all the cities which had 
befriended him during the days of his adversity. 

The four hundred warriors who had 
borne the fatigue of the long march and de- 
feated the Amalekites were unwilling to 
give their comrades who had remained at the brook Besor 
any share in the booty. But David would not permit 
such injustice, and made a statute and ordinance that 
As his share is that goeth down to the battle, so shall 
hts share be that tarrieth by the stuff ; they shall share 
alike. (1 Sam. xxx. 24.) 


Sack of 
Ziklag. 


David’s 
influence. 


CH. XII. ] THE REIGN OF DAVID. Q7 


David was now the chief man in the 
tribe of Judah, and was able to establish 
himself at Hebron. Thither the elders 
of the tribe repaired and anointed him their king, and 
for seven years this city remained David’s capital. The 
Philistines did not interfere with him, probably because 
they regarded him as an ally, and also because it was to 
their interest to encourage the strife between Judah and 
Israel. 


David in 
Hebron. 


David's policy had been to lay claim 
to the kingdom over Israel as the legiti- 
mate successor of Saul. He had executed the Amalekite 
who visited him bearing news of the slaying of the king 
on Mount Gilboa. (2 Sam. i. 15.) He also sent 
to Jabesh-Gilead to thank the inhabitants for rescuing 
the bodies of Saul and Jonathan. (2 Sam. ii. 5-7.) 

In the same spirit he refused to treat with Abner till 
Saul’s daughter Michal had been restored to him. 

It was apparently his purpose to depose Ishbosheth 
after providing for his maintenance, and to assume the 
headship over the house of Saul as the husband of 
Michal. By this means he doubtless hoped to have 
united all Israel peacefully under his sceptre. But cir- 
Strife between CUmstances were too strong for him. 

the menof Abner and the men of Ishbosheth went 

David andof from Mahanaim to the Pool of Gibeon, 

Ishbosheth. here they met David’s men under Joab, 
Abishai, and Asahel. These three brothers, sons of 
Zeruiah and nephews of David, were renowned as war- 
tiors, Asahel being famed for his fleetness of foot. Abner 
suggested to Joab that twelve picked men, chosen from 
each army, should engage in a mimic contest. But 
when the champions approached one another they fought 
so desperately that all were slain, and the place was 
henceforward known as Helkath-hazzurim. A general 
engagement followed, in which Abner and his men were 


Dayid’s policy. 


H 


98 ; BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. x11. 


put to flight. Asahel, Joab’s brother, pursued Abner, who 
urged him to pursue some less formidable warrior. He 
was slain by Abner, as he persisted in 
following him. This led to a family blood 
feud against Abner, whose subsequent 
murder by Joab when he came to treat with David 
ruined the king’s hopes of a peaceful settlement between 
the rival kingdoms. 

David confessed his own helplessness, saying: I am 
this day weak, though anointed king; and these men 
the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me. (2 Sam. iii. 
38, 39.) 


Murder of 
Abner. 


The reason why Abner came to treat 
Abner aa at with David was because of the folly of 
Een Ishbosheth, whom he supported on the 
throne. Saul had left a young wife 
named Rizpah, and Ishbosheth accused Abner of undue 
familiarity with her, a charge which was equal to one of 
treason. Abner therefore came to see David, and was 
treacherously slain by Joab. David could not punish 
this outrage, as Joab was able to justify himself by 
saying he had avenged the death of his brother Asahel. 
But the king saw that Abner’s death had thwarted his 
scheme, and tried to soothe the ruffled feelings of his 
people by giving him a splendid funeral, at which he 
acted as chief mourner. Over Abner he pronounced a 
dirge, as he had done over Saul and Jonathan: Died 
Abner as a fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound, 
nor thy feet put into fetters. (2 Sam. iii. 33, 34.) 

No one was now left to protect 
Ishbosheth. He was murdered by two 
Gibeonites of the town of Beeroth, named 
Rechab and Baanah, in revenge for the violation by 
Saul of the ancient treaty between Israel and Gibeon. 
As the porteress who kept the door of Ishbosheth’s 
house slept over her task of sifting the wheat, they 


Fate of 
Ishbosheth. 


CH. XII. | THE REIGN OF DAVID. 99 


slipped past her and slew the king as he slept at midday. 
(2 Sam. iv. 6.) [According to the Greek version.] 
They then brought his head to David at Hebron, little 
suspecting that they would have to pay the penalty of 
their crime. But David, who always abhorred crimes of 
treachery and violence, after reminding the murderers of 
the fate of the messenger of the news of the death 
of Saul, who instead of receiving the reward that he 
expected was slain, said: How much more when wicked 
men have slain a righteous person in his own ‘house 
upon his bed? And David commanded his young 
men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands 
and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool 
in Hebron: but they took the head of Ishbosheth 
and burted it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron. 
(2 Sam. iv. 11-12.) 

Then came all the tribes of Israel to 
David unto Hebron, and spake saying, 
Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. 
So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; 
and king David made a league with them in Hebron 
before the Lord: and they anointed David king over 
Israel. (2 Sam. v. 1-3.) 

As long as David was king at Hebron his power was 
not sufficient to excite the suspicions of the Philistines, 
who do not seem to have raised any objection to his 
assuming the sovereignty over Israel. As long as the 
Israelites possessed no strongly fortified towns, whilst 
the Philistines had at least five large walled cities, the 
supremacy of the latter was assured. 

But David saw an opportunity of re- 
versing the state of affairs. One city of 
the ancient nation of the Jebusites re- 
mained uncaptured alike by Philistine and Hebrew. 
The stronghold of Zion was deemed impregnable 
by its occupants, who laughed at the idea of anyone 


David king of 
Israel. 


Capture of 
Zion. 


100 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH xii. 


being able to take it by assault. When David 
and his little army approached the city, the defenders 
cried, The lame and the blind shall keep thee 
away. But David encouraged his men ‘by the 
words: Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and 
smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that 
are hated of David’s soul, he shall be chief and 
captain. We are told that Joab was the first to enter 
Zion when it was taken. (2 Sam. v. 4-10; 1 Chron. 
xi. 4-9.) 

The capture of Zion is the turning 
point in the national history, for it is 
probably the first time since Joshua that 
the Israelites ever attacked a fortified place. David 
had now a strong fortress to which he could retreat, and 
from which he could contend with Philistia upon equal 
terms. 


Importance of 
Jerusalem. 


re ache Of the subsequent wars with the 
Philistine Wars. Philistines hardly anything is recorded. 
Twice it is said that they were defeated 
in the Valley of Rephaim, south of Jerusalem. On the 
first occasion the place was known as Baal-perazim, 
because, said David, The Lord hath broken forth 
(paraz) whon mine enemies as the breach (perez) of 
waters. David won such a decisive victory that the 
Philistines abandoned their gods to the conquerors. 

At the second battle in the Valley of Rephaim, David 
enquired of Jehovah, and was told to attack the 
Philistines in the rear when he heard the sound of a 
going in the tops of the mulberry trees. (2 Sam. v. 
17-25.) 

It is unfortunate that there is so little information 
about these wars, for they were the most important as 
well as the most decisive of those waged by David. 
For after his reign the hated oppressors are hardly 
mentioned, and were never really formidable. It is 


CH. XII.] THE REIGN OF DAVID. 101 


possible that when David became assured of his position 
as king of Israel he not only conquered but conciliated 
the Philistines. It must be remembered that he had 
been their ally, had fought in their army, and had long 
lived in intimate friendship with them; and as in later 
days Philistines are found holding high positions in his 
court and army, the nation may have felt but little shame 
in becoming his allies, or even in partially acknowledging 
his suzerainty. 

With the cessation of the war with 


Nye se Philistia, David took a most important 
step. Now that he had triumphed over 


Zion. 
his enemies and was secure in the 
possession of a strong city, he resolved to make it the 
centre of the restored religion of Israel. To do this it 
was necessary to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. It had 
been for many years at Kiriath-jearim for the Philistines 
had opposed its removal from their jurisdiction, as they 
believed that with the visible symbol of Jehovah’s 
presence in their midst the armies of Israel would be 
invincible. Even after this obstacle was removed by 
their total defeat, David hesitated, possibly for fear of the 
jealousy of the Ephraimites, in whose territory at Shiloh 
the Ark had originally been kept. In addition, though 
Jerusalem had long been a Canaanitish sanctuary, it was 
quite possible that the Israelites would regard it as a 
profane spot, and one unlikely to prove acceptable to 
their God. 

In removing the Ark from the house of Abinadab, a 
sinister omen occurred. The Ark was placed in a new 
cart driven by Abinadab’s sons, Uzzahand Ahio. At the 
threshing-floor of Nachon, Uzzah put his hand on the 
Ark to steady it, and was immediately struck dead. 
David dared not proceed further, and the Ark was brought 
to the house of Obed-Edom of Gath. As long as his 
house afforded shelter to the Ark it was clearly seen that 


102 BIBLICAL HISTORY. | CH. XII. 


Jehovah favoured Obed-Edom; and after three months 
David was emboldened to bring it to Jerusalem. At the 
ceremony of bringing the Ark into the city of David, the 
king himself officiated as priest. He assumed the ephod, 
and led the sacred dances in front of the Ark as it was 
conveyed to the Tent prepared for its reception. Sacri- 
fices of peace-offerings were made; David blessed the 
people in the Name of Jehovah, and dismissed them with . 
presents. One incident alone marred the joy of the 
festival, and seems to shew that David’s relations with 
the family of Saul were not satisfactory. For the 
exuberant manifestation of his joy at the coming of the 
Ark to his capital, his wife Michal desfised him in 
her heart. David deposed her from her position of 
royal consort, and she had no child to the day of her 
death. (2 Sam. vi.) 

h : Master of his own territory and secure 
David’s Foreign . : , i 

Wars: in the allegiance of his people, David 

subdued Moab, Edom, Ammon, and their 

ally Syria. The result of the conquest of Syria gave 
him possession of Damascus, while the conquest of 
Edom gave him a harbour on the Red Sea. 

The conquest of Ammon was the most 
difficult of all David’s undertakings, and 
is also important as marking the beginning 
of his domestic sorrows, as it was, as we shall see 
later on in the narrative, during this war that David 
committed the great sin which ruined the rest of 
his life. 

On the death of Nahash the king of Ammon, who had 
been his friend, David sent an embassy to his son Hanun. 
The new king was induced to believe that David’s 
intentions to him were not sincere, and treated the 
ambassadors with the utmost indignity. This meant 
war. David prepared to cross the Jordan, and the 
Ammonites made a league with the neighbouring kings 


Ammon and 
Syria. 


CH. Xin] THE REIGN OF DAVID. 103 


of Syria. A large army was sent to assist the Ammonites 
by Hadadezer the Syrian king of Zobah and his allies, 
but it was defeated outside the walls of Rabbah by Joab 
and Abishai. David then invaded Syria in person, and 
routed the army of Hadadezer so completely that the 
Ammonites had no more hope of support from Syria. 
After this Rabbath-Ammon was invested by the Israelites, 
and when its fall was inevitable Joab sent for David that 
he might take the city himself. Lest, said Joab, I take 
the city and it be called after my name. According 
to the present reading the Ammonites were treated by 
David with savage cruelty, but a very slight modification 
of the text will justify the hope that the prisoners were 
spared and put to work at the royal buildings. (2 Sam. 
x. and xii. 26-31.) 

In the peaceful days at the close of his 
reign, David is said to have made 
arrangements for the building of the Temple. He had 
built a palace for himself by the aid of Syrian architects, 
and so he wished to give the Ark of Jehovah a suitable 
abode. See now, said he to the prophet Nathan, J dwell 
in. an house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwelleth 
within curtains. 

Nathan seems at first to have approved of the idea, 
but that night he was charged with a message from 
Jehovah forbidding him to build a Temple. In reward 
for his piety, however, he was promised a sure inherit- 
ance for his family, and it was hinted that his successor 
should be allowed to build a house for Jehovah. 
(2 Sam. vii.) In the books of Chronicles David is 
said to have devoted his latter days to planning how the 
Temple should be built, and in instructing his son Solomon 
how to construct it. He was not allowed, according to 
the Chronicler, to erect a Temple, because he had 
made great wars, and could be described as a@ man of 
blood. 


The Temple. 


104 . BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XII. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) The joint rule of David at Hebron and Ishbosheth 
son of Saul at Mahanaim. (2 Sam. ii.—iv.) 


Israel was divided into two kingdoms constantly at 
war with one another, the larger part under 
Ishbosheth and his kinsman, Abner. 

David, assisted by Joab, increased in power. Joab 
commenced a blood feud with Abner, who had 
slain his brother Asahel in battle. 

Abner renounced his allegiance to Ishbosheth, and 
made terms with David, but was treacherously 
killed by Joab. 

Ishbosheth was murdered, and David became the 
only king in Israel. 


(2.) The prosperous period of the reign of David. 
(2 Sam. v.—x.) 


David’s first act as king over all Israel was to 
capture Jerusalem, and to build a palace there 
with the aid of Hiram king of Tyre. 

He conquered the Philistines and restored the Ark 
to Israel, placing it in his own capital. 

He desired to build a Temple, but was forbidden by 
Jehovah through the prophet Nathan. 

He conquered the Philistines, Moab, Ammon, 
Edom, and Syria. 


CHAR TE Rey xl 1s. 


THE REIGN OF DAVID: 
HIS  ADVERSILY. 


II. Samuel x1.—I. Kings II. 


As a soldier David seems to have 
enjoyed almost uninterrupted success; 
but as a monarch, especially in his own 
family, he had but little happiness. Under him Israel 
passed from the simple life of a peasant people to the 
comparative civilization and luxury of a conquering 
race; and neither king nor people were able to adapt 
themselves to these new conditions without deteriorating 
in character. 

After his successful expedition veeinet Syria, David 
began to abstain from sharing in the hardships of his 
army in the field. This was the occasion of his great 
sin. He saw and loved Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a 
Hittite soldier in his army. When he found that there 
was no hope of saving her from the death which her 
husband had the right to inflict on her if she were proved 
to be unfaithful to him, he sent Uriah with a letter to 
Joab containing this command, Set ye Uriah in the 
forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him 
that he may be smitten and die. Joab obeyed the 
order; an assault was made on Rabbath-Ammon, and 
Uriah was slain. (2 Sam. xi.) 

But David did not long enjoy the 
results of his crime; for God sent Nathan 
the prophet, who told him the parable of the rich man 
who took the poor man’s ewe lamb; and when the king 


Dayvid’s sin and 
its punishment. 


Nathan. 


106 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XIII. 


said, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this 
thing shall surely die, Nathan’s reply was, Thou art 
the man. He then told him that the sword would 
never depart from his house; and though he repented, 
while God put away his sin, He did not revoke His 
sentence. (2 Sam. xii.) ak 

David's first sorrow after the sentence 
passed upon him by God was the death 
of the child of Bathsheba. While it lay 
a-dying, David fasted and wept; but when he knew it 
was dead, he again took food. When his servants asked 
him the reason for his behaviour, he said, While the 
child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who 
can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the 
child may live? But now he 1s dead, wherefore should 
I fast? CanTI bring him back again? I shall go to 
him, but he shall not return to me. (2 Sam. xii. 22-23.) 

The fatal example set by the father 
was followed by his eldest son, Amnon. 
Amnon’s treatment of his half-sister Tamar is a terrible 
example of the degraded sensuality of an Oriental 
court. She, however, found an avenger in her own 
brother Absalom, like her the child of Maacah, the 
daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. 

Absalom allowed two years to pass 
without shewing that he bore any enmity 
to Amnon. At the end of this time, he invited the 
royal family to a feast on the occasion of the shearing of 
his sheep at Baal-hazor. When the feast was at its 
height Absalom’s servants slew Amnon, and the rest of 
the king’s sons fled. Fearing his father’s wrath, Absalom 
took refuge with his grandfather at Geshur. (2 Sam. xiii.) 

d Joab seems to have thought it advisable 

The wise woman : 
of Tekoa. that the young prince should return to 
Jerusalem, and seeing that David himself 
was longing for his absent son, devised a means of 


Dayid’s 
troubles. 


Amnon’s crime. 


Absalom. 


CH. XIII. ] THE REIGN OF DAVID. 107 


persuading the king to sanction his recall. He sent a 
wise woman of Tekoa to go into the king’s presence 
with the following story. One of her sons had killed his 
brother,and the family demanded that the murderer should 
be given up to justice. The woman begged the king to 
save her guilty son, as if he were put to death she would 
lose both her children. The king then said, As the 
Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to 
the earth. ‘Then the woman reminded the king that their 
cases were alike. Like her, he had lost one son, and by 
his own act he was doubly bereaved by the punishment 
of the second. David at once perceived that the woman 
was the mouthpiece of another. Js not the hand of 
Joab with thee in all thts? he asked; and the woman 
replied that she had not spoken a word to the king 
which Joab had not put in her mouth. (2 Sam. xiv.) 

Absalom returned to Jerusalem, but was forbidden to 
approach his father. After two years he forced Joab 
to bring about a reconciliation by burning his fields of 
barley; and David granted his son an interview and 
completely forgave him. 

No sooner was Absalom restored to 
favour than he began his intrigues. 
Every suitor who came to Jerusalem was 
received by him with expressions of regret that justice 
was so badly administered by David's officers that there 
was no hope of obtaining redress. Plain hints were 
given that if Absalom were but judge all would go well; 
and so gracious was the young prince’s manner, that he 
stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 

When the plot was ripe, Absalom asked leave to dis- 
charge a vow at Hebron. Spies had been sent through- 
out Israel to arrange for a general rising directly the 
news should come that Absalom was king. The director 
of the revolution was Ahithophel of Giloh, David's 
confidential adviser. 


- Revolt of 
Absalom. 


108 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [Cr UXT, 


The conspiracy was so sudden and widespread that 
David had to leave his capital. He apparently had not 
any supporters in Israel except his own relatives Joab 
and Abishai, the two priests Zadok and Abiathar and 
their Levites, and the king’s friend, Hushai the Archite. 
His sole military support was his body-guard and his 
foreign mercenaries, Cherethites, Pelethites and Gittites, 
commanded by the faithful Ittai, who positively refused 
to desert his master. (2 Sam. xv.) 

The king refused to allow the Ark to 
accompany him. After crossing the Kidron 
and ascending the Mount of Olives, 
Hushai met David, but was told to go back to Jerusalem to 
defeat, if possible, the counsel of Ahithophel. 

After this, David came in contact with 
the adherents of the house of Saul. The 
only descendant of Saul whom David had 
been able to discover was Jonathan’s crippled son Merib- 
baal or Mephibosheth. He was admitted to the royal 
household, and the administration of his estates was 
entrusted to Ziba, a former servant of Saul. (2 Sam. 
ix.; 1 Chron. viii. 34.) 

Ziba met David on his flight from Jerusalem with 
provisions for his men, and announced that Mephibosheth 
had remained in the city in the hope of profiting by the 
revolution, and seizing the throne. A more direct proof 
of the hostility of Saul’s family was seen at Bahurim, 
where a certain Shimei cursed David and cast stones at 
him, vowing that Absalom’s rebellion was a just punish- 
ment for all the blood of the house of Saul—an 
evident reference to the slaying of the descendants of 
Saul to pacify the Gibeonites, whom Saul had caused to 
be massacred. (2 Sam. xvi. 1-14.) 

As long as David remained on the 
west of Jordan his case was  hope- 
less. Absalom arrived at Jerusalem, and Ahithophel 


David’s flight 
from Jerusalem. 


Ziba and 
Mephibosheth. 


Ahithophel. 


CH. XIi1. } THE REIGN OF DAVID. 109 


asked to be allowed to be put in command of twelve 
thousand men, so that he might overtake David instantly 
and kill him. 
Hushai. Fortunately for David, Hushai was 
able to play on the fear and vanity of the 
usurper. Supposing, he suggested, that David and his 
tried warriors were to surprise their pursuing force and 
to snatch a victory, all Israel would desert Absalom in 
dismay. It would be better to run no risks, but to wait 
until the whole nation were assembled. Then Absalom 
could lead the army in person, and gain all the glory 
himself without any danger. Absalom and his friends 
listened to this advice; and Jonathan and Ahimaaz, the 
two sons of the priests Zadok and Abiathar, escaped 
from the city to tell David that Ahithophel’s counsel was 
rejected, and that the king had at least time on his side. 
Ahithophel, seeing that Absalom’s cause was lost, went to. 
his house and hanged himself. (2 Sam. xvii.) 
MN When David had crossed the Jordan, 
David in 
Gilead. he found numerous adherents. The 
great chieftains hastened to him with 
provisions for his men. At their head was an Ammonite 
from Rabbah, Shobi the son of Nahash, whom David 
had probably put in the place of his adversary Hanun. 
Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and the vener- 
able Barzillai the Gileadite are also named. At Maha- 
naim he found himself among friends, and at the head of 
an army commanded by three tried warriors, Joab, Abishai 
and Ittai. David wished to command in person, but his 
soldiers refused to allow him to risk his life. He there- 
fore remained with the reserves in the city, after having 
given strict orders that Absalom’s life was to be spared. 
Absalom soon came with his army 
under the command of Amasa, a kinsman 
of Joab; but they were no match for 
David's generals. They were forced to retreat into a 


Defeat of 
Absalom. 


110 BIBLICAL HISTORY. RCH. VTL. 


wood, and were destroyed piecemeal. It was in the 
forest that Absalom met his doom. A man told Joab 
that he had seen Absalom hanging in an oak, and in 
answer to the question why he had not slain him then 
and there, reminded his general of the king’s command. 
Without further words Joab repaired to the spot, and, 
assisted by his ten armour-bearers, slew Absalom. 

David, in the meantime, was waiting for news at 
Mahanaim, more anxious about the fate of his dis- 
obedient son than that of his army. Joab had sent an 
Ethiopian slave to announce the defeat and death of 
Absalom; but Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, was so per- 
sistent in begging to be allowed to bear the tidings, that 
Joab let him go also. He outran the Ethiopian and 
proclaimed the news of victory, but evaded David’s 
question about the safety of Absalom. When the 
Ethiopian arrived and was asked the same question, he 
replied: The enemies of my lord the king and all that 
rise up against thee to do thee hurt be as that young 
manis. And the king was much moved, and went up 
to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he 
went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my 
son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O 
Absalom, my son, my son! (2 Sam. xviii. 24-33.) 

After the defeat of Absalom the people returned to 
their homes, and David, overcome by grief, remained 
unconscious of all that was happening. Joab roughly 
aroused his master by the words: Now therefore 
arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy 
servants: for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not 
forth, there will not tarry a man with thee this night. 
(2 Sam. xix. 7.) 

David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the 
priests, bidding them prepare the men of 
Judah to receive him, and promising Amasa Joab’s place 
at the head of the royal army. 


David’s return. 


CH. XIII.] THE REIGN OF DAVID. 111 


He now returned in triumph to Jerusalem, after 
rewarding those who had assisted him, especially 
Barzillai the Gileadite, whose son Chimham he received 
at his court. At the fords of Jordan, Shimei made his 
submission and was pardoned. Mephibosheth seems te 
have aroused the king’s suspicions, but his excuses 
were accepted, though half his property was given 
to Ziba. | 

Another revolt under a Benjamite, a 

Sheba the son mene 
of Bichri. member of Saul’s tribe, now broke out. 
Its leader was Sheba the son of Bichri, 
who drew all the tribes save that of Judah after him. 
Amasa was sent to quell this revolt, but was so dilatory 
that the rebellion became widespread, and Abishai was 
sent with the Cherethites and Pelethites. Joab went with 
them, and slew Amasa as he had slain Abner. He then 
took command, and drove Sheba into Abel-beth-Maachah. 
A wise woman of the town made a treaty with Joab on 
behalf of the townsmen, and Sheba’s head was thrown 

over the wall. (2 Sam. xx.) 

II. Samuel closes with an account of 
David’s sin in numbering the people. 
We are told that God’s anger was 
kindled against Israel, and he moved 
David to number the people, commanding Joab to 
carry out the work. ‘This was very distasteful to Joahk 
and the captains of the host, and they only obeyed under 
protest. (2 Sam. xxiv. 1; 1 Chron. xxi. 1.) 

It took them nine months and twenty days to complete . 
their task, and at the end of that time David’s heart 
smote him, and he prayed to the Almighty for forgive- 
ness. The prophet Gad was sent to the repentant 
monarch to offer him three things: either seven years of 
famine, or three months pursuit by his enemies, or three . 
days pestilence. David’s reply was: I am in a great 
strait ; let ws now fall into the hand of the Lord, for 


The numbering 
of the 
people. 


112 | BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XII1, 


His mercies are great; and let me not fall into the 
hand of man. (2 Sam. xxiv. 14.) 

Jehovah accordingly sent a pestilence which destroyed 
seventy thousand men. But when the angel stretched 
forth his hand over Jerusalem God said to him J/¢ ts 
enough; stay now thine hand. And the angel of the 
Lord was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the 
Jebusite. Gad then came to David and told him to erect 
an Altar where the plague had ceased. The king bought 
from Araunah (or Ornan) the Jebusite the oxen, and the 
threshing-floor where the angel had appeared, for fifty 
shekels of silver, refusing to accept Araunah’s offer of 
it as a gift, for he said he would not offer to God that 
which had cost him nothing. (2 Sam. xxiv.; 1 Chron. xxi.) 

The period described in the first chap- 
ter of the First Book of Kings depicts 
David as old and feeble, and his court a 
hot-bed of intrigues as to who should succeed him, in 
which Joab was the prime mover. He was supported by 
Abiathar the priest, who was probably jealous of the rising 
influence of the family of Zadok in furthering the 
claims of David’s eldest son, Adonijah. 

Bathsheba, however, had induced David to promise that 
Solomon, her son, should inherit the throne. She was 
supported by Nathan, Zadok the priest, and Benaiah 
the son of Jehoiada, who was in command of the royal 
body-guard. Adonijah invited his supporters to a 
banquet at En-rogel, in the valley of the Kidron, 
at which the cry, God save king Adontjah! was 
raised. 

David was promptly informed of this by the supporters 
of Solomon, and gave orders that preparations should at 
once be made to proclaim Solomon king at Gihon. 

When Adonijah and his friends heard that Solomon had 
been anointed king, the latter dispersed, and the former 
took refuge in sanctuary. Solomon spared his brother’s 


Intrigues for 
the Succession. 


CH. XIII.] THE REIGN OF DAVID. 113 


life, warning him, however, that he would not pardon him 
again if he further offended. (1 Kings i.) 

No sooner, however, was David dead than Joab com- 
menced his intrigues. Heno doubt prompted Adonijah 
to ask Bathsheba to persuade Solomon to allow him to 
espouse Abishag. Solomon saw through the request. 
Why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for 
Adonitjah? Ask for him the kingdom also, for he is 
my elder brother; and for Abiathar the priest, and for 
Joab the son of Zeruiah. Adonijah was immediately 
put to death, and the aged Joab was torn from the horns 
of the Altar and slain, while Abiathar was banished to 
his estate at Anathoth. (1 Kings ii.) 


SUMMARY. 
David's sin and its punishment. 


During the Ammonite war David saw and _ loved 
Bathsheba, and procured the death of her 
husband, Uriah the Hittite. 

As a punishment the prophet Nathan told him that the 
sword would never depart from his house. 

His favourite son Absalom murdered his brother Amnon 
in revenge for his conduct to Tamar. 

Restored to favour, he rebelled against David, and 
almost succeeded in dethroning him. He was in 
the end defeated and slain by Joab, who after- 
wards suppressed another rebellion led by the 
Benjamite, Sheba the son of Bichri. 

David numbered the people, and was punished by a 
three days pestilence, which was stayed at the 
threshing-floor of Araunah. 

I. Kings i.—uii. tells us of the intrigues for the throne 
and the accession of Solomon. 


CHAPTER X1V; 


THE REIGN OF SOLOMON, 


I. Kings II.—XI. 


The accession of Solomon is the 
beginning of a new age in Israel. His 
reign was marked by great prosperity, 
and by an advance in arts and gentler manners. It is 
quite likely that David chose one of his younger sons to 
succeed him with this object in view, and that the alliance 
between his eldest surviving son, Adonijah, and Joab and 
Abiathar, was owing to a desire to carry on the ancient 
wild conditions that had prevailed in the days of Saul 
and David. 


Dayid’s choice 
of Solomon. 


For David, the founder of the dynasty, 


Contrast : : 

between was a soldier-shepherd, who succeeded in 
Dayid and arough age by his courage and ability, 
Solomon. and his education was that of practical 


experience. But Solomon in his youth had been trained 
in the arts of peace, for his father had probably looked 
forward to the time when his successor should advance 
Israel in culture, just as he had done in military achieve- 
ment. The soldier-king recognised the importance of 
education, and gave further proof of genius in choosing 
the most cultivated of his sons as his successor. 

From the first years of his reign 
Solomon seems to have proved himself 
worthy of the great inheritance left him 
by his father. He had triumphed over faction at home 
and hostility abroad, and had entered into a firm alliance 
with Pharaoh, the greatest monarch in the known world. 
How noble were the aims of the young king is shewn by 


Solomon’s gift 
of wisdem. 


GH. (XIV. ] THE REIGN OF SOLOMON. gO Es 


the story of his famous choice of wisdom. Jehovah 
appeared to him in a dream at Gibeon, and bade him 
ask for a favour at His hands. Solomon, in answer, 
prayed for an understanding heart to judge Thy 
people. The Lord granted his request, and added a 
promise that He would give him such riches and honour 
that there shall not be any among the kings like 
unto thee, all thy days. (1 Kings tii. 4-15; 2 Chron. 
eo ioe) 

The judgement of Solomon recorded, 
as a proof that he had been given wisdom 
by God, is that of the case of the two 
women and the dead and living child. Two women came 
before his judgement seat with this story. It appeared 
that they both shared one house and that they both had 
babies. One woman overlaid her child in the night so 
that. it died; she then exchanged it for the living child 
of her neighbour. In the morning the mother of the 
living child discovered the deception, and when the other 
woman would not give it up, they both appealed to 
the king. One woman said, The living is my son, and 
the dead is thy son. And this said, No, but the dead ts 
thy son, and the living is my son. (1 Kings ili. 22.) 

The king solved the difficulty by calling for a sword, 
and commanded that the living child should be cut in 
two, and one half be given to one woman and the other 
half to the other. When the real mother heard that 
sentence, sooner than see it killed before her eyes, she 
cried out, O my lord, give her the living child, and 
in no wise slay tt. Thus the king found out from 
this who was the real mother, and gave her the child. 
(1 Kings iii. 16-28.) ( 

Solomon’s empire included all the land 
between the Euphrates and the Brook of 

Egypt. David had utterly subdued Moab and Ammon, 
and Edom still remained a subject territory. David’s 


The Judgement 
of Solomon. 


His Empire. 


116 Ve BIBLICALHHISTOR”, (CH. cXly. 


armies had subdued the Syrians of Zobah, and Solomon 
had taken Hamath, so nearly all Syria south of the 
Orontes recognised him as their king. 

Solomon encouraged commerce, thereby 
bringing his people into relation with 
distant nations, and getting them to know the arts of a 
higher civilization than their own. With the growth of 
trade their minds grew broader; they learned to take 
an interest in other nations, and a spirit of adventure 
began to carry them to the distant parts of the then 
known world. The principal trade at this epoch was in 
chariots, and horses bred in Egypt, so Solomon acted as 
a go-between of that country and the Hittite or Canaanite 
kings. 


Commerce. 


In addition to the trade by land Solomon 
took the bold step of extending his com- 
merce by sea. Not only was timber brought from Tyre 
on rafts to Joppa, but finally the king, with the assistance 
of his Phcenician ally, built ships to navigate the Red 
Sea and to import gold from the remote land of Ophir. 
| Solomon recognised that the clan 
system, which was the custom of the 
Hebrews, did not agree with his view of 
national unity. So he divided Israel into 
twelve districts, ignoring tribal distinctions. In this 
way, Solomon hoped to make his people forget their 
family feuds and unite in striving after national pro- 
gress. To each of the twelve districts Solomon 
assigned the duty of providing for his court month 
by month. (1 Kings iv.) 

Solomon’s principal title to honour in 
the eyes of the Israelites was the erection 
of the Temple at Jerusalem. The Temple was the 
symbol of a union of the human race in brotherly charity 
based upon the Fatherhood of God. It is a noteworthy 
fact that the Temple was built by Phcenician craftsmen, 


Navigation. 


Division of 
Israel into 
Districts. 


The Temple. 


CH. XIV.] THE REIGN OF SOLOMON. 117 


and that both David and Solomon sought the aid of 
Hiram, king of Tyre, to introduce their subjects to the 
arts of life. The Temple itself was not a large build- 
ing, its dimensions being exactly double those of the 
Tabernacle. (1 Kings v., vi.) 

The Temple was finishedin seven years, 
and was dedicated in the seventh month. 
The Ark and the vessels of the Sanctuary were brought 
by the priests and Levites, and on this occasion only the 
- Ark was opened; and There was nothing in the Ark 
save the two tables of stone which Moses put there 
at Horeb. ‘Throughout the ceremonies Solomon took 
the leading part, acting as both priest and king. His 
lips pronounced alike the Blessing and the Prayer of 
Dedication. (1 Kings vii.—ix.) 
ies Gugek ot The highest point Solomon’s glory 

Sheba. seems to have reached was when the 
Queen of Sheba came to visit him and 
to try him with hard questions, to every one of which 
she received an answer ; and when she saw the splendour 
of the court of Israel there was no more spirit in her. 
It was a true report, she exclaimed, that I heard in 
mine own land of thine acts and of thy wisdom. 
Howbeit I belteved not the words until I came, and 
mine eyes had seen it; and behold, the half was not 
told me. (1 Kings x. 1-13.) 

After this it seems that the prosperity 
of Solomon had already begun to decline. 
In the first place, the civilization he intro- 
duced was not suited to his people. Further, the ancient 
Israelites disliked trade, whereas Solomon encouraged 
commerce, which meant the employment of the hated 
foreigner to assist his schemes. Equally unpopular was 
Solomon’s government. His kingdom was marked out into 
districts to supply the royal table month by month. The 
levies started to the Lebanon regularly, one relieving the 


Dedication. 


Unpopularity of 
Solomon’s rule. 


118 WCBIBLICGAT WAIST ORY: RCH XIV; 


other in due order. But the Hebrews were accustomed 
to the utmost independence, and resented being put to 
anything like forced labour, which they saw threatened 
their liberty. | 

In addition to this, there was always the jealousy 
existing between Israel and Judah to be reckoned with. 
This had partially slumbered under David, was kept 
under with difficulty in the days of Solomon, and burst 
into a flame in those of his successor. (2 Sam. xix. 43, 
and xx. 1 Kings xi. 26-40; xii.) 

The revolt of Jeroboam was an attempt 
of the tribe of Ephraim to overthrow 
Solomon’s authority. Its leader was 
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, whom Solomon had 
employed in fortifying Jerusalem, and to whom he 
had entrusted the forced labour demanded from Ephraim. 
(1 Kings xi. 28.) Among the leaders was the prophet 
Ahijah of Shiloh, whose native place makes us think 
that he may have been jealous of the rising Sanctuary at 
Jerusalem. 

But Solomon was sufficiently strong to repress all 
symptoms of disaffection. Jeroboam fled to Egypt, as 
he saw that nothing could shake the royal authority as 
long as the king lived. 

The book of Kings attributes the 
misfortunes of Solomon’s reign to the 
fact that in his old age his foreign wives turned away 
his heart, and he forsook Jehovah. He allowed his 
Moabite and other wives to build sanctuaries to their 
gods in Jerusalem. It has been said that this was due 
to the king’s desire to please his foreign subjects, 
and attract them to his capital; but the scriptural 
explanation is that Solomon’s action proved him to be 
unfaithful to his God, and that, as a punishment, 
besides Jeroboam two ‘adversaries’ were raised up to 
trouble him, 


Revolé of 
deroboam. 


Sin of Solomon. 


CH. XIV. ] THE REIGN OF SOLOMON. 119 


Hadad, the only surviving member of. 
the royal house of Edom after David's 
war, and who had been protected by the king of Egypt 
during David’s lifetime, returned to Edom when he 
heard that David and Joab were dead, and caused 
Solomon no little trouble. It appears, however, that the 
country was again subdued by the Israelites, as Solomon 
was able to carry on an important trade in the Red Sea. 
(1 Kings xi. 14-22; x. 26-28.) 

Rezon, a vassal of Hadadezer, king of 
Zobah, had thrown off his allegiance when 
his master was defeated by David (2 Sam. viii. 3-12; 
x. 16-18), and became a freebooter. On the accession 
of Solomon he was strong enough to establish himself at 
Damascus, and is described as an adversary to Israel 
all the days of Solomon. (1 Kings xi. 23-25.) 

The lasting Although Solomon’s extravagance and 

effects of oppression led up to the disruption of hig 

Solomon’s kingdom, yet he left behind him much 

reign. that was lasting. For the long peace 
he had secured, and the way he had opened up intercourse 
between his own people and distant nations gave an 
impulse towards civilization; and from his reign it is 
possible to date the imperishable literature of the 
Hebrews. The building of the Temple started a new 
development in religion, which made the faith of Israel 
indestructible ; and the fortification of Jerusalem gave 
Judah a strength which enabled it to outlast every other 
nation. 


Hadad. 


Rezon. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) David’s choice of Solomon to succeed him was 
probably in order to educate the nation in the 
arts of peace, as he had trained them in the art of 
war. 


120 PUN S205) BRO A) S RISE i Ns 6 [CH. XIV. 


(2.) Solomon had many difficulties in the early part of 
his reign, as now that David was dead, the peoples 
he had subdued tried to throw off the yoke of 
Israel. Huis chief foes were 

(i.) Hadad of Edom; and 
~ (ii.) Rezon of Damascus. 

(3.) God gave Solomon, at his request, the gift of wisdom, 
a proof of which is given in the Bible by the 
Judgement of Solomon. 

(4.) Solomon’s empire was extensive, as it went to the 
borders of the Orontes in Syria. His commerce 
and navy also made him famous. 

(5.) He divided Israel into districts to supply the royal 
table each month, which caused him to be un- 
popular, as the Israelites were very independent. 

(6.) The erection of the Temple is his chief glory, as it 
strengthened the religion of Israel. 

(7.) The visit of the Queen of Sheba marks the highest 
point of his power. 

(8.) He became unpopular, owing to the levies, and his 
love of commerce, which brought in many 
foreigners. Besides all this, Israel and Judah 
were always very jealous of one another. 

(9.) He is said to have forsaken the true worship of 
Jehovah in his latter days, under the influence of 
his foreign wives. 

(10.) His reign probably inaugurated an age of Hebrew 
literature and a lasting religion. 


CRAP E Raye 


THE DISRUPTION OF,THE KINGDOM, AND THE 
BAAL WORSHIP. 


THE REIGNS OF REHOBOAM, ABIJAH, ASA, 
KINGS OF JUDAH, 
AND OF 
JEROBOAM, NADAB, BAASHA, ELAH, ZIMRI, OMRI, 
KINGS OF ISRAEL. 


I. Kings XlI.—xvlI. II. Chronicles xX.—xvVI. 


After king Solomon’s death, his son 
and successor, Rehoboam, was not able 
to assume the crown at Jerusalem, but 
had to assemble the tribes at Shechem, the capital of the 
haughty tribe of Ephraim, and to listen to the grievances 
of the people, who offered him their allegiance if he 
would promise to abolish, or at any rate relax, the 
claim to demand forced service from the Israelites. 
The wise old counsellors of Solomon advised moderation. 
Let the king give way now and bide his time, he 
would soon be as powerful as Solomon had been. But 
Rehoboam’s young friends advised him to forsake the 
counsel of the old men, that had stood before Solomon 
his father, and to say, My father chastised you with 
whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 
(1 Kings xii. 1-15.) 

Jeroboam’s experiences in the days 
of Solomon had taught him caution. He 
returned from Egypt, but did not go to Shechem until 
he knew how Rehoboam would act. No sconer was 


Kecession of 
Rehoboam. 


Jeroboam. 


122 “) BIBLICAL HISTORY, CH. XV. 


the king’s foolish reply to his people’s just demands 
made known, than all the tribes save Judah threw over 
his authority and cried: 

What portion have we in David ? 

Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: 

To your tents, O /srael ; 


Now see to thine own house, David. 
(1 Kings xii. 16.) 


Adoram, who was over the levy, was 
apparently the only victim of the revolu- 
tion. Hewassent by Rehoboam to stop the disturbance, 
and was immediately stoned to death. ‘The king fled to 
Jerusalem; and Jeroboam, in obedience to the summons 
of the people, came to Shechem and was solemnly 
anointed king. The whole tribe of Judah and part of 
Benjamin rallied to the house of David; but the prophet 
Shemaiah declared the thing to be from Jehovah, and 
sternly forbade the king to attempt to bring the rebellious 
tribes again under his sway. The division of the 
kingdom took place almost without bloodshed. The 
ten tribes took the name of Israel, and for a long time 
tried to conquer the little kingdom of Judah; but they 
never succeeded, for the fact that Jerusalem was a great 
fortress, and that the Temple was the chief sanctuary, 
gave the men of Judah a distinct advantage. 

Jeroboam, seeing that the people were 
in danger of returning to the House of 
David if they were allowed to go up to 
the Temple to worship at Jerusalem, 
decided to establish the old calf-worship at the ancient 
sanctuaries of Dan and Bethel. He probably reminded 
his people that Jerusalem was not an ancient sanctuary, 
like Bethel, where Abraham had built an altar, and 
where Jacob had seen the angels of God; or like Dan, 
which possessed a hereditary priesthood, founded by the 
grandson of no less a person than Moses. (Judg. xviii. 


The Revolution. 


Jeroboam 
and the 
calf worship. 


CEO | DISRUPTION: OF THE KINGDOM. 123 


30, R.V.) The religious separation from Judah was 
called the Sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who 
made Israel to sin. 
The-aluchedient On the fifteenth day of the eighth 
Prophet. month, one month later than the date on 
which the feast was observed in Judah, 
Jeroboam was offering solemn sacrifice on the altar 
at Bethel. Suddenly a prophet from Judah appeared, 
and told him that a day would come when a king 
of Judah, Josiah by name, would slay the priests of 
the high places upon that very altar. When Jeroboam 
tried to seize him his arm withered so that he could 
not draw it back, and the altar was rent before his eyes, 
as a sign that the prophet’s words were true. At the 
request of the prophet his arm was restored. Though 
the king asked him to remain with him, the prophet 
refused, saying that he was forbidden to eat bread or 
drink water in Bethel, or to return by the way by 
which he came. An aged prophet at Bethel, hearing of 
these events, saddled his ass, and rode after the man 
from Judah, and begged him to come back with 
him. He told him that an angel of Jehovah had 
commanded him to make this request. The prophet 
from Judah consented to return; but as they were 
sitting at table, the spirit of the Lord came upon the 
prophet of Bethel and compelled him to give his guest 
this message: Forasmuch as thou hast been dis- 
obedient unto the mouth of the Lord, and hast not 
kept the commandment which the Lord thy God 
commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten 
bread and drunk water in the place of the which He 
said to thee, Eat no bread and drink no water; thy 
carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy 
fathers. (1 Kings xiii. 21, 22.) 
On his way home, the prophet was slain by a lion, 
and the passers by saw that it had spared the ass and 


124 - BIBLICAL HISTORY. (Ca: xv: 


was standing by the man’s body without devouring it. 
When the old prophet of Bethel heard of this wonder, 
he rode to the spot, and recognised his guest in the dead 
man. He took up the body and buried it in his own 
sepulchre, after having made his sons take an oath to 
bury his bones beside those of the prophet of Judah, 
asserting that the saying which he cried by the word 
of the Lord against the altarin Bethel, and against 
all the houses of the high places which are in the 
cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass. (1 Kings 
xiii. 32.) 
This is not the only example of the 
Jercboam and ; 

Bhijah. fact that the prophets were bitterly 
disappointed in Jeroboam. For when 
Abijah his son fell sick, the king made his wife disguise 
herself and sent her to the aged Ahijah the Shilonite, to 
enquire whether the child would recover. The prophet, 
though blind, recognised her at once, and told her that 
her son would die as soon as her feet entered the city 
and announced the ruin of Jeroboam’s house. When 
she entered the city of Tirzah, and reached the threshold 

of the house, the child died. (1 Kings xiv. 1-18.) 

Jeroboam died after a reign of twenty- 
two years. In addition to his wars, he 
spent much energy upon fortifications, the 
chief of which were the building of Shechem in Mount 
Ephraim, and of Penuel in Gilead. He was succeeded 
by his son Nadab, who reigned two years and was slain 
by Baasha the son of Ahijah, while he was besieging 
Gibbethon. (1 Kings xv. 25-28.) 

Baasha fulfilled the prophecy of Ahijah 
by massacring the whole family of 
Jeroboam, and left not any that breathed. He reigned 
twenty-four years, and was continually at war with 
Judah; but he displeased the prophets as much as 
Jeroboam had done. Jehu the son of Hanani foretold 


Death of 
Jeroboam. 


Baasha. 


CH. XV. ] DISRUPTION OF THE KINGDOM. 125 


the doom of his house, which came on his son Elah, who 
was slain by Zimri, captain of half his chariots, while 
drinking himself drunk in the house of 
Arza his steward.  Zimri, during his 
short reign of seven days, utterly destroyed the house 
of Baasha. (1 Kings xv. 29—xvi. 13.) 

The people at this time were encamped 
against Gibbethon, and on hearing of the 
rebellion of Zimri, they elected Omri, captain of the 
host, to be their king, and forthwith they raised the siege 
of Gibbethon, invested Tirzah and took it. Zimri 
saw that his plight was hopeless, and burned himself in 
his palace. Omri then entered upon a four years 
struggle for the throne with Tibnithe son of Ginath. At 
the end of that time Tibnz died, and Omri reigned. 
With the accession of Omri there came an end to a long 
period of civil strife. (1 Kings xvi. 15-22.) 

Omri reigned over Israel twelve years, coming to 
the throne in the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah. 
During the first six years of his reign he made his 
capital at Tirzah. He then fortified a hill which he 
had bought from Shemer for two talents of silver, and 
built thereon a new capital, which he called Samaria or 
Shomeron, after its former owner. (1 Kings xvi. 23, 24.) 
He stopped the strife between the two Hebrew kingdoms; 
and there was peace between Israel and Judah so long 
as the house of Omri lasted. He appears to have tried 
to copy the policy of David and Solomon, by renewing 
the Phoenician alliance by a marriage between his son 
Ahab and Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the 
Zidonians. ‘This led to the fall of his house, owing to the 

Jintroduction of the worship of the Tyrian Baal. He 
subdued Moab, and compelled Mesha, king of Moab, to 
pay tribute, as we learn from the famous Moabite Stone, 
discovered in 1868. Healso waged war with Syria, but 
seems to have had to make peace with them on unfavour- 


Zimri, 


Omri, 


126 ' BIBLICAL HISTORY. (cH. xv. 


able terms. But he earned the condemnation of the 
prophets, despite his might, as the worst king who had as 
yet reigned over Israel. (1 Kings xvi. 26.) 


; Meanwhile the kingdom of Judah had 
History of __,. 
Tndah. little peace. It was too weak to recover 
what Rehoboam’s foliy had lost, but 
strong enough to resist the attempts of the ten tribes 
to subdue it. Unlike the history of the Northern King- 
dom, which we know only from I. and II. Kings, we 
have an account of the kings of Judah in II. Chronicles. 
This latter was written long after the Return, about 
B.C. 300 or later, and is of inferior value to the books 
of Kings. But the Chronicler may have had access to 
works lost to us, and cannot be wholly neglected. 
Rehoboam had been forbidden by the 
prophet Shemaiah to resist Jeroboam, at 
the time of the disruption, so he turned his attention to 
fortifying fifteen cities and to making his little kingdom 
strong. According to the Chronicler (2 Chron. xi. 
13, 14), the Priests and the Levites who had been 
turned out of Israel gave him their support for at least 
three years. In his fifth year, Shishak, king of Egypt, 
invaded Judah, took the fenced cities, and ravaged 
Israel as far as the plain of Esdraelon. He despoiled 
the treasury of the Temple and palace at Jerusalem, 
and took away Solomon’s golden shields. For these 
Rehoboam substituted shields of brass. During all the 
twenty-two years Jeroboam occupied the throne of 
Israel there was war with Judah, but it was mostly a war 
of sieges. In the midst of this war, Rehoboam died, 
after a reign of seventeen years. 
Kbijah. Abijah, who succeeded Rehoboam, only 
reigned three years; but one event in his 
reign is recorded, and that in Chronicles, namely his 
victory over Jeroboam in Mount Zemaraim in Mount 


Rehoboam. 


CH Ve) DISRUPTION OF THE KINGDOM. 127 


Ephraim. He was hopelessly outnumbered and was 
surrounded on all sides, but obtained a signal victory, 
because he trusted in Jehovah. (2 Chron. xiii.) 

Abijah was succeeded by Asa in the 
twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel. 
During the first ten years of his reign the land had 
peace, and the king employed this time not only in 
fortifying his cities and in training his army but in a 
purification of the Temple. Suddenly, Zerah the Ethiopian 
with a vast army invaded Judah, and was utterly defeated 
in answer to the prayers of the king. (2 Chron. xiv. 
9-15.) The prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, came and 
exhorted Asa to make a more thorough reformation, 
which he did by deposing Maacah, the queen-mother, 
from her high position, for setting up an Asherah 
(A.V. grove) in Jerusalem, which he burned at the brook 
Kidron. (1 Kings xv. 9-15; 2 Chron. xv.) 

In his later years Asa was hard pressed 
by Baasha, king of Israel, who, by 
fortifying Ramah, had prevented Judah 
rom holding any communication with 
the North. Accordingly Asa sent an embassy to Ben- 
hadad, king of Damascus, to persuade him to attack 
Israel. Benhadad willingly acceded to Asa’s request, 
and laid waste the whole of the north-west of Israel, 
so that Baasha was forced to turn his attention from 
Judah to his new foe. Asa destroyed Ramah, raised a 
general levy throughout his kingdom, and built Geba of 
Benjamin, and Mizpah, out of the stones and timber he 
took from Ramah. (1 Kings xv.17-22; 2 Chr. xvi. 1-6.) 

: For his act of folly in calling in the 

Hanani : ; 
Peppy Syrians to his aid he was rebuked by 
Hanani the seer, who said, The eyes of 
iyi Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, 
to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose 
heart 1s perfect toward Him. Herein thou hast done 


Asa. 


Asa’s alliance 
with Syria 
against Israel. 


128 | Y BIBLICAL “HISTORY. VCHA X Ye 


foolishly ; therefore from henceforth thou shalt have 
wars. (2 Chron. xvi. 9.) Asa put the bold prophet 
into prison. 

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign 
Asa was diseased in his feet, and we are 
told that in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but 
to the physicians. (2 Chron. xvi. 12.) He died two 
years later, and was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat. 


Death of Asa. 


SUMMARY. 
ISRAEL. 


There was no permanent government; one dynasty after 
another fell at the word of the prophets. 
Jeroboam’s son was murdered by Baasha, 
Baasha’s son by Zimri. There was constant war 
with Judah. At last Omri triumphed over all 
rivals and became undisputed king. 


JUDAH. 


Rehoboam’s kingdom was invaded by Shishak, king of 
Egypt. In the war with Israel, his son and 
successor, Abijah, won a great victory over 
Jeroboam. Asa purified the Temple, defeated 
Zerah the Ethiopian, and when hard pressed by 
Baasha, persuaded Benhadad, king of Syria, to 
invade Israel. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


i ee 


THE SERIFE BELWEEN, THEY WOKSHIPPERS OF 
BAAL AND OF JEHOVAH. 


ELIJAH. 


The reign of Ahab is chiefly remarkabie 
nee Waa for the fact that it is the period of the 

and Elijah. f 

great conflict between the worshippers of 
Jehovah and of the Zidonian Baal. Ahab had married 
Jezebel, daughter of the king of Zidon, and had, by 
her influence, allowed the introduction of this new 
form of idolatry. At this juncture Elijah appeared 
without warning, and foretold three years of famine 
as a punishment for the national sin. Elijah came 
from Gilead, a region where life was more simple and 
primitive than in Western Palestine. In answer to his 
denunciation, Jezebel promptly massacred the prophets 
of Jehovah. But Obadiah, Ahab’s servant, possibly with 
the consent of his master, saved one hundred prophets. 

After he had given his message Elijah mysteriously 
disappeared, and though Ahab searched every kingdom 
for him, he found him not. Meanwhile the prophet 
dwelt by the brook Cherith, and was fed by ravens, or 
by a tribe of Arabs (in Hebrew ‘raven’ and ‘ Arab’ 
are almost identical). 

After she brook Cherith had dried up, 
the prophet went according to the word of 
the Lord to Zarephath, a town belonging 
to Zidon, where he was told that a widow 
would sustain him. When he came to the gate of the city, 
seeing a widowgathering sticks, he called her and asked her 


Elijah and 
the widow of 
Zarephath. 


K 


130 Tae BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XVI. 


to give him some water that he might drink. But when 
he asked her for some bread she told him that she had 
only a handful of meal and a little oil in a cruse, and she 
was preparing a last meal for herself and her son. 
Elijah told her not to fear, but to make him a little cake, 
and promised her that the barrel of meal and the cruse 
of oil would not fail as long as the famine lasted. But 
later on, the boy fell ill, so that there was no breath left 
in him, and the mother reproached the prophet for 
calling her sin to remembrance by slaying her son. 
Elijah took the child to his chamber, and after praying 
to God to bring him back to life, restored him to his 
grateful mother. (1 Kings xvii.) 

In the third year of the famine Ahab and his servant 
Obadiah were seeking for grass to save the horses and 
mules. Elijah suddenly revealed himself to Obadiah and 
told him to tell his master Behold, Elijah is here. But 
Obadiah, fearing that the Spirit of Jehovah would bear 
the prophet away, and that he would be punished for 
bringing false news, was reassured by the prophet’s 
words: As the Lord of Hosts liveth, before whom I 
stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to-day. 

Thus Ahab and Elijah met, and at the 
prophet’s command the king assembled 
all the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel, 
where Elijah urged the people to choose which God they 
would serve. If Jehovah be God, follow Him; but if 
Baal, then follow him. (1 Kings xviii. 21.) He further 
suggested that each side should erect an altar and place 
a buliock upon it—Elijah to Jehovah, and the prophets 
of Baal to their god. And the God which answereth by 
fire, let him be God. ‘The people declared that they would 
abide by this test. The prophets of Baal behaved in a 
frantic fashion, leaping upon the altar, cutting themselves 
till their blood ran down, while Elijah calmly taunted them. 
When the hour of the evening sacrifice drew near, 


The sacrifice 
on Carmel. 


CH. XVI. ] AHAB, JEZEBEL, ELIJAH. 131 


the prophet called the people to him, and with twelve 
stones repaired the ruined Altar of Jehovah and made a 
trench around it. He then put the wood in order, cut. 
the bullock in pieces, laid him on the wood, and gave 
orders that twelve barrels of water should be poured on 
the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. The water ran 
round about the altar, so that the trench was filled with 
water. At the prayer of Elijah the fire of the Lord fell, 
and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and 
the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that 
was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, 
they fell on their faces; and they said, Jehovah, He 
is God; Jehovah, He is God! (1 Kings xviii. 36-39.) 
ath Nae Elijah thereupon commanded the people 
tay uroohets to slay the prophets of Baal on the banks 
of Baal. of the brook Kishon; and himself ascended 
Mount Carmel with his servant, and 
prayed. When the lad had looked seaward seven times, 
he saw a little cloud, as small as a man’s hand, which 
was the sign of abundance of rain. The prophet then bade 
Ahab to hurry to Jezreel, and full of the spirit of Jehovah, 
girded up his loins and ran before the king’s chariot. 

At this point the prophet, after the long 
strain following the events on Mount 
Carmel, seems to have for a time lost heart. For when 
he heard that Jezebel had sworn vengeance against him, 
he fled to the wilderness of Beersheba; but after he had 
gone a day’s journey into the desert, he prayed God to 
take away his life. An angel comforted him and fed him, 
and in the strength of that food he went forty days and 
forty nights. 


Elijah’s flight. 


Elijah At the end of that time he arrived at 
atiovehs Horeb, the Mount of God, and, like Moses, 
took refuge in a cave or cleft of a rock. 

Here God came to him. His voice came and said, 
What doest thou here, Elijah? and after the prophet 


132 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XVI. 


had told his tale of woe, he was ordered to stand on the 
mount before the Lord. ‘There then came a wind, an 
earthquake, and a fire, but the Lord was not in them. 
After this there came a still, small voice, in which the 
prophet recognised the Voice of God. He told him to 
anoint three persons, who, between them, would punish 
Israel for its apostasy and restore the true worship. 
They were Hazael, the future king of Syria; Jehu the 
son of Nimshi, the destroyer of the house of Ahab; and 
Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was to take the place of 
Elijah, who was assured by God Yet will I leave me 
seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not 
bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not 
kissed him. (1 Kings xix. 18.) 
Aabicens 5 Elijah then went on to Abel-meholah, 
Elisha, where he found Elisha the son of 
Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve 
yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth; and 
Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. 
(1 Kings xix. 19.) Elisha recognised the call, but asked 
permission to bid farewell to his father and mother; but 
Elijah rebuked him, saying, Go back, for what have I 
done to thee? He then turned back, and sacrificed his 
oxen, and gave the flesh to the people. ‘Then he arose 
and followed Elijah as his minister. In this way the 
reaction against the Baal worship began. 

An act of cruelty on the part of Jezebel 
was the reason for Elijah’s final inter- 
view with Ahab. The king was very 
anxious to buy the vineyard of Naboth, a native of 
Jezreel. Naboth refused to sell it, and Ahab took his 
refusal so much to heart that he refused to eat. But 
when Jezebel heard about it, she had Naboth arrested on 
a charge of treason and blasphemy. He was stoned to 
death, and his land became the property of the crown. 

When Ahab went to take possession of the 


Naboth’s 
Vineyard. 


CH. XVI.] AHAB, JEZEBEL, ELIJAH. 1 23 


vineyard, Elijah suddenly appeared and was greeted by 
the guilty king with the words: Hast thou found me, 
O mine enemy? The prophet then delivered his message. 
For this crime the family of Ahab would be utterly 
destroyed; the dogs would lick up his blood on the very 
spot where they had licked up that of Naboth, and they 
would eat Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel. Ahab was 
struck with repentance; so Elijah told him that Jehovah 
would not bring the punishment upon his house until 
after his death. (1 Kings xxi.) 
Blijah and Elijah survived Ahab, for we learn 
Mhatiah. that the prophet predicted the death of 
Ahab’s eldest son, Ahaziah, who fell 
from a lattice, and hurt himself. The king did not 
send for Elijah, but despatched messengers to the 
oracle of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to enquire 
whether he would recover. Elijah met them and 
foretold the king’s death. Twice the king sent fifty 
men to take him, and they were destroyed by fire; but on 
the third occasion Elijah, at the humble request of the 
captain of fifty, condescended to answer the summons. 
The Ascension of Elijah is one of the 
most impressive stories of the Old Testa- 
ment. Accompanied by Elisha he went 
to Gilgal, and commanded the younger prophet to await 
him there. But Elisha refused to obey his command. 
At Bethel and at Jericho the same thing occurred, though 
at both places the sons of the prophets warned Elisha 
in the words: Knowest thou that the Lord will take 
away thy master from thy head to-day? Heanswered, 
Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. Then they came 
to Jordan, and Elijah smote the waters with his mantle 
and they divided; and the two passed over dry-shod. 
They were now in the very district where Moses had 
died, perhaps actually on Mount Nebo. The prophet 
told his disciple to ask a favour of him; and he requested 


The ascension 
of Elijah. 


a, 


134 BIBLICAL HISTORY. . (CH: Xvi, 


that he might receive, as his first-born son, a double 
portion of the prophetic spirit. Elijah said: Thou hast 
asked a hard thing: tf thou shalt see me when I am 
taken fron thee, 1t shall be so unto thee; but if not, it 
shall not be so. As he was talking with Elisha, a 
chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and he was 
taken up. (2 Kings ii.) 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) Ahab, the son of Omri, married Jezebel, the daughter 
of the king of Zidon, who introduced the worship 
of Baal, the god of her people. 

(2.) Elijah, the prophet of Gilead, was raised by God 
to oppose the national apostasy. 

(3.) The story of Elijah: 


(z) He announced a sentence of famine, 
which lasted three years. 


(b) At the end of that time, he appeared 
to Ahab and ordered him to assemble 
the people and the prophets of Baal to 
Mount Carmel, where Jehovah by fire 
proved Himself to be God The. pro- 
phets of Baal were slain at the brook 
Kishon, and afterwards the rain came. 

(c) When Elijah heard that Jezebel had 
sworn vengeance against him he fled to 
Mount Horeb, where he had a vision 
of God, and where he was told to 
anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat to 
be his successor, Jehu the son of 
Nimshi to be the future ruler of Israel, 
and Hazael to rule over Syria. He 
performed the first of these commands, 
and left the other two to-his successor. 


CH. XVI] AHAB, JEZEBEL, ELIJAH. 135 


(d) His last interview with Ahab was when 
he denounced him for the murder of 
Naboth; but when the king shewed 
signs of penitence, he told him that 
the doom of his house would not come 
until after his death. 


(c) After the death of Ahab he predicted 
the speedy death of Ahaziah his son, 
who had met with an accident, and 
consulted Baal-zebub and not Jehovah. 


(f) The last stage in the story is the 
ascension of the prophet in a chariot 
of fire into heaven. 


CHAPTEROKVIT. 


AHAB AND HIS SYRIAN WARS, 


1 Kings XX.—XXII. 


Omri had raised the kingdom of Israel 

The ‘supremacy’ 5 the leading position of the states of 
of the House of i ve, : ’ 

Omri. Palestine. The Israelitish king was in 

fact the head of a confederacy of the lesser 

Hebrew nations, z.e., Judah, Moab, and Edom. The 

alliance between Israel and Judah, which lasted as long 

as the dynasty of Omri, was strengthened by the inter- 

marriage of the royal families, and the sons of Ahab 

and Jehoshaphat bore the same names. 

The chief enemy of Israel was Syria, 
The Syrians were a race akin to the 
Hebrews, and must be carefully dis- 
tinguished from the Assyrians. They had been con- 
quered by David, but rebelled under Rezon, who, in 
the days of Solomon, established himself as king in 
Damascus. (1 Kings xi. 23-25.) During the wars between 
Israel and Judah, Asa called Benhadad, king of Syria, 
to aid him against the king of Israel. Omri lost several 
cities to the Syrians; and Ahab seems to have been 
little more than a vassal of Benhadad II., who even 
-made an insolent demand that he should search Ahab’s 
palace at Samaria and take from it whatever he should 
please. This aroused the spirit of the Israelite king, who 
refused to submit, and challenged Benhadad to fight by 
his message, Let not him that girdeth on his armour 
boast as he that putteth it off. (1 Kings xx. 11.) 


Khahb’s war 
with Syria. 


cH. xvil.}| AHAB AND HIS SYRIAN WARS. 137 


The response was an invasion of Israel. Benhadad 
came with his thirty-two vassal kings; but Ahab, by 
a prophet’s advice, sent his army against the Syrians 
under the young men of the princes of the provinces, 
and completely defeated them. 

The next year Benhadad returned with another army, 
and decided to fight upon the plains, as he thought that 
Jehovah was only powerful in the hills. But his army 
was again entirely overthrown, and fled to Aphek, where 
the king took refuge in an inner chamber. (1 Kings 
xx. 30.) His servants told him that Ahab was a 
merciful king, and advised him to put sackcloth on his 
loins, and a rope upon his head, and to make humble 
submission. This Benhadad did; Ahab treated him 
with clemency, and a peace advantageous to Israel was 
concluded. (1 Kings xx. 31-34.) But one of the 
prophets determined to rebuke the king in a dramatic 
manner. He commanded the first man he met to 
smite and wound him, and on his refusal, told him a 
lion would slay him for his disobedience ;—a prediction 
which came to pass. The next man was more 
complaisant, and the prophet, disguised by his wound, 
awaited the king. When the king saw him, the prophet 
said that he had been entrusted with a prisoner of war 
under the peril of his life; but the prisoner had escaped, 
and what was he to do? The king naturally replied 
that his life was forfeited; whereupon he removed his 
disguise, and Ahab saw that his interrogator was one of 
the sons of the prophets. The king was informed that 
in sparing Benhadad he had spared a prisoner of Jehovah, 
and the sentence was pronounced, Thy life shall go for 
his life, and thy people for his people. (1 Kings xx. 42.) 

The peace between Israel and Syria 
lasted for three years. We do not know 
what was the reason for the fresh outbreak 
of hostilities, but we are told in I. Kings xxu. that at the 


Rupture with 
Syria. 


138 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [cl, XVII 


end of that time Ahab invited his guest and vassal, 
Jehoshaphat, to help him to recover Ramoth-Gilead. 
The king of Judah agreed, and the prophets were sum- 
moned that they might predict the result of the 
expedition. _With one mouth they declared for a speedy 
victory; but as they did not invoke the Sacred Name, 
merely saying that God (Elohim) would deliver Ramoth 
Gilead into the hands of the king, Jehoshaphat asked 
whether there was not a prophet of Jehovah amongst 
them. Ahab replied that there was one prophet, Micaiah 
by name; but he always predicted evil against him. 
But when the king of Judah insisted on his presence, he 
was summoned. At first he, in a sarcastic vein, used the 
same words as the other prophets; but when Ahab 
adjured him to speak the truth, he said: J saw all 
Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep which 
have no shepherd. He then told the two kings his 
vision, which was that he saw the host of heaven con- 
sulting with Jehovah how Ahab could be led to his ruin. 
A spirit promised to enter into his prophets to deceive 
the king. Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, one of the 
prophets, smote him on the cheek, asking him Which 
way went the spirit of the Lord from me to speak to 
thee? Micaiah was sent to prison until Ahab should 
return in peace; but as he left the king’s presence he 
said, If thou return at all in peace, Jehovah hath not 
spoken by me. (1 Kings xxii. 1-28.) 
At the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, Ahab— 
Death of i ee : 
Rha probably knowing that the Syrian king 
had given orders that the fight was to be 
only with the king of Israel—disguised himself as a 
common soldier, and was killed by the chance shot of an 
archer. He died a hero’s death, held up in his chariot 
throughout the day, so that his soldiers might not know 
how serious was his wound. His body was brought to 
Samaria. and the dogs licked his blood in the pool of 


~ 


CH. xvul,] AHAB AND HIS SYRIAN WARS. 139 


Samaria, where the chariot had been washed. (1 Kings 
XXii. 29-38.) 

We learn from a monument of Shal. 
Assyrian = maneser II., king of Assyria, that Ahab, 
Monuments ; : , 
and Ahab, uring his reign, wis a member of a 

confederacy presided over by Hadadezer, 
king of Damascus, to which the king of Israel contributed 
the largest number of chariots, namely, two thousand. 
Its object was to stop the advance of the Assyrian army 
against Hamath; but the allies were defeated at Karkar 
in B.c. 854. This is the earliest date in the history of 
Israel which can be definitely fixed. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) Omri restored the prosperity of Israel, but could 
not arrest the progress of Syria. 

(2.) The alliance between Israel and Judah lasted 
throughout the continuance of this dynasty, and 
was strengthened by the intermarriage of the 
royal families. 

(3.) Ahab, after long enduring the tyranny of the king of 
Syria, defeated Benhadad in two campaigns, and 
was rebuked by a prophet for sparing the Syrian 
king’s life. 

(+.) After a three years peace, he with his ally 
Jehoshaphat went against Ramoth-Gilead, in 
spite of the warning of the prophet Micaiah, and 
met his death from the chance shot of a Syrian 
archer. The dogs of Samaria licked up his 
blood in Samaria, according to the prophecy of 
Elijah. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


ELISHA AND THE HOUSE OF JEHU. 
II. Kings Il—xX.; XIII. 


Elisha was called to the prophetical 
office in the days of Ahab, and ministered 
to Elijah till the early part of the reign of Jehoram. He 
survived the fall of the dynasty of Ahab and the reigns 
of two kings of the house of Jehu, dying after Joash, the 
grandson of Jehu, had ascended the throne. His was 
the animating spirit which preserved Israel through the 
trials of the Syrian wars. 

The following is a brief account of his 
work. He helped the allied kings of 
Israel, Judah, and Edom against Mesha, king of Moab. 
He also aided Jehoram against the Syrians. Hecarried 
out Elijah’s commission to appoint Hazael as successor 
to Benhadad, king of Syria, as the scourge of Israel; 
and sent one of his disciples to anoint Jehu to be king 
of Israel, thus preparing for the overthrow of the house 
of Omri, and the destruction of the Baal worship. 

Many miracles are related as having 
been performed by him. With one 
exception—the punishment of the lads who mocked him, 
and who were destroyed by bears—Elisha’s wonders 
were kindly. He healed the spring at Jericho by 
casting salt into the bitter waters. (2 Kings ii. 19-22.) 
Ile multiplied the oil of a widow of one of the prophets, 
to enable her to pay her debt. (cb. iv. 1-7.) When 
the prophets at Gilgal put some poisonous herbs in the 
pot by mistake, Elisha made matters right by casting in 


Elisha. 


His life’s work. 


His miracles. 


CH. XVIII.] ELISHA AND THE HOUSE OF JEHU. 141 


meal. He multiplied twenty loaves which a man from 
Baal-Shalisha brought to him, sufficiently to feed a 
hundred men. He also caused a prophet’s axe-head to 
swim when it fell into the water. And we are told that 
when a corpse was placed in his tomb it was restored to 
life. (2 Kings xiii. 20, 21.) Two of Elisha’s miracles 
are related more fully in II. Kings. One is the raising 
of the son of the Shunammite woman; the other is the 
cure of Naaman. 

The Shunammite woman was very kind 
to the prophet, for she gave him a room 
whenever he came to her neighbourhood. 
He was so grateful that he offered her 
many things, but Gehazi, the prophet’s servant, told his 
master that the desire of the Shunammite’s heart was a 
son, and that blessing was promised. The boy grew up, 
and his father took him to see the reapers. He must 
have had sunstroke, for he cried, My head, my head! 
and was taken home to die on his mother’s knees. She 
then laid the child’s body on the prophet’s bed, and 
ordered her ass to be saddled that she might go to 
Elisha. Gehazi came to meet her, but she would not tell 
him what had happened. She then threw herself at the 
prophet’s feet, and when Gehazi tried to thrust her away, 
Elisha rebuked him, saying, Let her alone, for her soul 
ts vexed within her, and the Lord hath hid it from me, 
and hath not told me. When Elisha heard that the 
child was dead, he sent on Gehazi with his staff to place 
on the child’s face, and himself followed with the 
Shunammite, who would not leave him, and restored the 
boy to life. 

Afterwards, the king of Israel took away the lands 
of the Shunammite, but they were restored when Gehazi 
told the king that the woman was she whose son 
Elisha raised from the dead. (2 Kings iv. 8-37; 

“iii. 1-6.) 


The raising of 
the son of the 
Shunammite. 


142 BIBLICAL HISTORY (CH. XVIII. 


The story of Naaman the Syrian is 
probably the best known of Elisha’s 
miracles. Naaman was captain of the host of the king 
of Syria,anda great man,buthewasaleper. A little maid 
who was an Israelitish captive told the wife of Naaman 
that the prophet in Samaria could cure her master. So 
the king of Syria sent Naaman witha letter to the king of 
Israel. When the king rent his clothes and declared 
that the letter was simply an excuse for waging war 
against him, Elisha sent him a message that he should 
send Naaman to him. 

When Naaman came to the house of the prophet, 
Elisha told him to wash seven times in Jordan. Taking 
this as an insult to his country, the Syrian exclaimed, 
Are not Abanah and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, 
better than all the waters of Israel? So he turned and 
went away in a rage. But his servants said, My father, 
if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, 
wouldest thou not have done it? Naaman then washed 
in Jordan and was cleansed. When he returned and 
offered presents to the prophet, they were refused; but 
Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, was smitten with the 
leprosy of Naaman for accepting a gift from him. 

Meanwhile there was constant war 
between Israel and Syria. Elisha was 
a tower of strength to the king of Israel, 
for he was able to reveal to him all the plans of the 
king of Syria. When the Syrians sent a host against the 
prophet, they discovered him at Dothan, and surrounded 
the city. His servant was terrified, but Elisha said, 
They that be with us are more than they that be with 
them. He then prayed that the eyes of the servant 
migut be opened, and in answer to that prayer he saw 
horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 

Elisha then smote the Syrians with blindness, and led 
them to Samaria. The king of Israel wanted to kill 


Naaman. 


Elisha and the 
Syrian wars. 


CH. xvill.] ELISHA AND THE HOUSE OF JEHU. §43 


them; but in the end he took the prophet’s advice, and 
treated his foes with kindness and sent them back te 
their own land. (2 Kings vi. 8-23.) 

Some time later, Benhadad besieged Samaria, and 
the famine was so great that women ate their own 
children. The king of Israel sent messengers to kill 
Elisha; but he replied that on the morrow there would 
be great plenty in the city. The next day some lepers 
found that the Syrians had left their camp in a panic, 
as they thought that the kings of the Egyptians and 
of the Hittites had been hired to attack them. (2 Kings 
vi. 24—vii. 20.) 

Elisha had one more task laid upon 
him by Elijah, namely to anoint Hazael 
to be the greatest enemy of Israel to avenge the 
sins of the house of Ahab. He came to Damascus, 
where Benhadad was lying sick, and Hazael was sent 
by his master to enquire whether he would recover. 
The man of God foretold the king’s death, gazed upon 
Hazael, and wept. He then told him what evil he 
would do to Israel. This encouraged Hazael to ask, 
How could he, a mere dog, perform such glorious 
things? He then left the prophet, murdered his master, 
and became king of Syria. (2 Kings viii. 7-15.) 

Jehut The house of Jehu reigned longer 
than any dynasty of Israel. Jehu 
was in command of the army which was besieging 
Ramoth-Gilead. During the siege a young prophet, 
acting under the instructions of Elisha, rushed in 
among the captains of Israel, and asked to see 
Jehu alone. He then anointed him king over Israel, 
and went as suddenly as he had come. Jehu re- 
turned to his companions, and after he had found 
they were not privy to the plot, told them what had 
happened. He was promptly proclaimed king with 
acclamation. (2 Kings ix. 1-13.) 


Hazael. 


144 . BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XVIII, 


After Jehu had been proclaimed king 
at Ramoth-Gilead, he drove in his chariot 
to Jezreel, where Joram, king of Israel, 
who had been wounded by the Syrians, was staying with 
his kinsman, Ahaziah, king of Judah. When Jehu’s 
chariot came in sight, messengers were sent, but were 
not allowed to return; and at last the two kings, 
recognising that it was the chariot of Jehu the son of. 
Nimshi, for he driveth furiously, went out to meet him. 
Jehu then drew his bow to the full and killed Joram, and 
his followers pursued Ahaziah and killed him also. The 
body of Joram was cast into the plot of Naboth, 
according to the prophecy of Elijah. (2 Kings ix. 16-26.) 

When Jehu came into the city he was 
taunted by Jezebel, who, attired in royal 
robes, asked him, Is it peace, thou 
Zimri, thy master’s murderer? He commanded the 
eunuchs of the palace to cast her out of the window, 
and her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the 
horses of Jehu as he entered the city. During the 
banquet held to celebrate his success he gave orders to 
bury the late queen, for she is a king’s daughter, 
but the dogs had already eaten her up. (2 Kings ix. 
30-37.) 


Joram of 
Israel slain. 


Death of 
Jezebel. 


HR hay The effect of the successful revolt of 

Rhah's tammily, Jehu is shewn by the behaviour of the 

rulers of Samaria, who sent the heads of 

the seventy sons of Ahab in baskets to Jezreel, to earn 

the favour of the new king. Forty relatives of Ahaziah, 
king of Judah, were also slain. 

Jehu, after the murder of the kinsmen 

Destruction of of Ahaziah, was met by Jehonadab the 

the Baal 

Worship. son of Rechab, the founder of a sect who, 

as we learn from Jeremiah, refused to 

dwell in house, cultivate the land, or drink wine (Jer. 

xxxvy.), and was encouraged by him in his camipaign of 


CH. XvilI.] ELISHA AND THE HOUSE OF JEHU. 145 


slaughter. Apparently at his instigation, Jehu collected 
all the worshippers of Baal in the temple of their god, 
which he surrounded with soldiers, who slew the unarmed 
multitude. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. 
(1 Kings x. 1-28.) 
The dynasty of Jehu was, in accordance 
The dynasty : 
Reciahit, with the word of a prophet, allowed 
to continue till the fourth generation, 
longer than any other in the blood-stained history 
of Israel. There were five kings in this family: 
namely, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam II., and 
Zechariah. We do not learn much about the reigns 
of these kings, but evidently the Syrians oppressed them; 
but their power waned, and Jeroboam II. was master 
of a territory almost as great as that of Solomon. 

In the reign of Jehu, Hazael ravaged 
the whole of Eastern Palestine, according 
to the prediction of Elijah; he also raided 
the western side as far as Jerusalem. (2 Kings xii. 17.) 
Jehu’s son, Jehoahaz, had only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, 
and ten thousand soldiers. But his grandson, Joash, 
according to the prophecy of Elisha, defeated the Syrians 
three times in Aphek and recovered the cities of Israel. 
The last great king of this dynasty, Jeroboain If., hada 
victorious career, and conquered Damascus. 


The Syrian 
Gppression. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) Elisha appointed to be the successor of Elijah, in 
the days of Ahab. He lived until Joash, the 


grandson of Jehu, had become king. 
(2.) His work was— , 
(a) Political ; 


(b) Social. 


146 BIBLICAL HISTORY. {CH. XVIII. 


(a) His political work was as follows: He 
helped the kings of Israel, Judah,and Edom, 
against Mesha, king of Moab. He helped 
Jehoram against the Syrians; he appointed 
Hazael to be king of Syria and to be the 
scourge of Israel; and sent a disciple to 
anoint Jehu to be king of Israel. On his 
death bed he told the young king, Joash, 
that he would be victorious over Syria 
three times. 

(b) His social work consisted in the care he 
took of the sons of the prophets, and the 
miracles he performed on their behalf. 
He raised the Shunammite’s son, and cured 
Naaman the Syrian. 

(3.) Jehu, the son of Nimshi, was besieging Ramoth- 
Gilead, when a young prophet, sent by Elisha, 
anointed him as king. The army supported him, 
so he went to Jezreel and slew Joram, king of 
Israel, and by his orders Ahaziah king of Judah 
and Jezebel the queen-mother were also slain. 
The rulers of Samaria sent the heads of seventy 
of the royal family in baskets to Jehu as a token 
of their submission, and Jehonadab the son of 
Rechab encouraged him to massacre the Baal 
worshippers. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of 
Israel. 

4.) His dynasty reigned longer than any other in Israel, 
and consisted of five kings. Jehu and Jehoahaz 
were oppressed by the Syrians, but Joash defeated 
them three times, and Jeroboam was so successful 
that he extended the borders of his kingdom 
from Hamath to the Dead Sea. 


GHAPTER XIX, 


HOW THE KINGDOMS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH 
BECAME INVOLVED WITH ASSYRIA. 


II. Kings XI.—xv. 

II. Chronicles XXII.—XXVIII. 
Amos. 

Hosea. 


We have already read that Jehu 
destroyed the house of Ahab as well 
as the Baal worship, and that for this 
reason it was promised that his family should reign 
for four generations. (2 Kings x. 30.) Israel must 
have been greatly weakened by the fall of the house of 
Omri, and in the reign of Jehu the Lord began to cut 
Israel short. Hazael ravaged Gilead and overran Israel. 
Jehu died after a reign of twenty-eight years, and was 
succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, who reigned seventeen 
years, during which time he and his 
people were in great straits owing to the 
Syrians. So sore were his defeats, that his army was 
reduced to fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand 
footmen; whereas Ahab, according to the monuments, 
had sent two thousand chariots against the Assyrians. 

Joash ruled for sixteen years. Under 
him matters mended somewhat, for when 
Elisha was on his death-bed the king 
came to visit him, and was told to open the window 
that looked eastward and to draw his bow. The dying 
prophet laid his hands upon the bow and said, The 
Lord’s arrow of salvation, even the arrow of salvation 


House of Jehu, 
king of Israel. 


Jehoahaz. 


Jehoash or 
Joash. 


148 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH pkik. 


over Syria. The king, at the prophet’s command, 
smote the ground; but as he apparently did not believe 
Elisha, and smote it but thrice, he was told he would 
not consume Syria, but would have only three victories. 

3 Joash was succeeded by his son, 
Jeroboam II., during whose reign of 
forty-one years Israel became almost as great as in the 
' time of Solomon. This king, encouraged by the prophet 
Jonah, the son of Amittai, took advantage of the weak- 
ness of Syria to restore the border of Israel from the 
entering in of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah. 
(2 Kings xiv. 23-29.) 

The result of the ultimate success of 
Israel against Syria in the days of 
Jeroboam II. was due to the rapid 
advance of the Assyrian power in 
Western Asia, but it led to religious revival and 
renewed confidence in Jehovah in Israel. But although 
outward signs of religion were everywhere displayed, 
the true prophets recognised that these wére as hollow 
and deceptive as the temporary prosperity of the nation. 

Amos, a herdsman of Tekoa in Judah 
(Amos i. 1), foretold that an Assyrian 
invasion, which, however, he never directly mentions, was 
inevitable. He surveyed the neighbouring nations and 
declared that the heritage of Israel was the fairest of 
them all; but though there were outward observances 
in profusion, the oppression of the poor by the rich, the 
luxury of the ladies of Samaria, and the prevalence of 
drunkenness, were bound to provoke the anger of Jehovah. 
His bold. preaching gave great offence, and Amaziah the 
priest of Bethel ordered him to leave the royal sanctuary 
and escape tohisown country. Amos replied that he was 
neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but a messenger 
sent by Jehovah to announce the fall and the captivity 
of Israel and of Amaziah’s family. (Amos vii. 10-17.) 


Jeroboam Ii. 


The literary 
prophets: Amos 
and Hosea. 


Amos. 


CH. xIxX.] ENTANGLEsrENTS WITH ASSYRIA. 149 


After the death of Jeroboam, who 
Civil wars after reigned forty-one years, we enter upon 
the death of : d 
Jeroboam I], 2 Period of anarchy. His son Zechariah 
was murdered by Shallum the son of 
Jabesh, who was in turn put to death by Menahem the 
son of Gadi. During the civil war which 
followed, Menahem committed many 
atrocities. In the latter reign we get the first mention 
of an Assyrian king. We read that Menahem paid 
Pul, king of Assyria, a thousand talents to be confirmed 
in his kingdom. He raised the money by taxing the 
richer Israelites. Thus Israel became tributary to 
Assyria. (2 Kings xv. 8-22.) 
Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, after 
Pekahiah, 
Pellah® Hoshany. reign of two years, was murdered by 
Pekah the son of Remaliah, captain of 
his body-guard, who smote him in Samaria, in the castle 
of the king’s house. Pekah reigned for twenty years, 
and was murdered in his turn, at the instigation of the 
Assyrians, by Hoshea the son of Elah, the last king cf 
Israel. Thus the closing days of the history of the 
Northern kings is one of repeated seditions and murders. 
At this time Hosea prophesied. Events 
had moved very fast since the days of 
Amos; and the difference in the tone of the two 
prophecies helps us to understand the political events 
which caused them. In the case of Amos prosperity and 
national arrogance had been the sins of Israel, but in 
the times of Hosea despair had seized upon the land. 
The priests had no moral influence, and the prophets 
were active, but disregarded. Hosea denounced 
the profligacy of the priests and nobles as well as the 
idolatrous worship of Samaria, and warned the people 
that, owing to their apostasy Jehovah, despite His love 
for Israel, was about to abandon the nation to its 
doom, 


Mcnahem., 


Hosea. 


150 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH ILXIX, 


We must now return to the history of 
the Southern kingdom. During the rule 
of the house of Omri, the two kingdoms 
had been in alliance. But when Jehu exterminated the 
house of Ahab, and slew Ahaziah and his brethren 
(2 Kings x. 12-14), Athaliah, the daughter 
of Omri, and mother of the murdered 
king, realising what had happened, gave instructions 
that all the seed royal of Judah should be slain. But 
Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of 
Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole 
him from among the king’s sons, which were slain; 
and they hid him, even him and his nurse. (2 Kings 
xi. 2.) This royal lady was the wife of Jehoiada, the 
priest of Jehovah, and the young king’s aunt. (2 Chron. 
xxii. 11.) She hid Joash in the Temple for six years. 
Meanwhile Athaliah encouraged the Baal worship, and 
Mattan its priest. The worship of Jehovah in the 
Temple apparently continued to be carried on under the 
priest Jehoiada. 

In the seventh year of Athaliah Jehoiada summoned 
the chief men of the nation and the captain of the guard, 
and presented to them the boy king, to whom they swore 
allegiance. He then divided them into three bands, 
armed them with king David’s spears and shields which 
were in the Temple, and arranged for.the coronation on 
the following Sabbath. When Athaliah heard the 
sound of the shout, God save the king ! she rushed in 
and cried, Treason, treason! Jehoiada commanded 
her to be taken out of the Temple precincts and _slain, 
together with her priest Mattan. (2 Kings xi. 4-20; 
2 Chron. xxiii.) 


History of 
dudah. 


Athaliah. 


Although Joash reigned for forty years, 
we know very little about him. From 
the account given us in Kings and Chronicles we learn 
the following facts. He was seven years old when he 


Reign of Joash. 


CH. XIX. ] ENTANGLEMENTS WITH SYRIA. 151 


began to reign, and during his minority Jehoiada acted 
as regent, under whom the worship of Jehovah was 
restored, and the altars of Baal destroyed. (2 Kings xi. 
17-20; 2 Chron. xxiii. 16-21.) As the Temple needed 
repairs, by the command of the king a chest was placed 
by the Altar for alms, and the money placed therein 
paid the wages of those who did the work of restoration. 
(2 Kings xii. 1-16; 2 Chron. xxiv. 1-14.) As long as 
Jehoiada lived Joash remained true to Jehovah. When 
Jehoiada died he was buried in the sepulchre of the kings 
because he had done good in Israel, both toward 

God, and toward His House. (2 Chron. xxiv. 15-16.) 
After the death of his uncle, Joash was 

Apostasy of : ; 
Tbe persuaded by his princes to restore 
the idolatrous worship, in spite of the 
protests of the prophets. At last, Zechariah the son of 
Jehoiada rebuked him in strong terms: Because ye 
have forsaken the Lord, He hath also forsaken you. 
At the king’s command he was stoned to death in the 
court of the House of the Lord. (2 Chron. xxiv. 20 ff.; 
Matth. xxiii. 35.) 

God’s punishment came in the form of 
an invasion of Judah by Hazael, king of 
Syria, who with a small army defeated 
Joash. The price of peace was the sacrifice of the 
Temple treasures. (2 Chron. xxiv. 23, 24; 2 Kings xii. 
17,18.) Finally Joash, who was smitten with disease, 
was murdered in his bed by an Ammonite and a 
Moabite, and was not buried in the sepulchre of the 
kings, or treated with the honours usual at the burial 
of a king of Judah. (2 Chron. xxiv. 25-26; 2 Kings xii, 
20-21) 


Amaziah. 


Invasion by 
Hazael. 


Joash was succeeded by his son 
Amaziah, who was twenty-five years old. 
His reign lasted twenty-nine years. His first act was 
to execute the murderers of his father, but he refrained 


152 - BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XIX. 


from putting their families to death, in obedience to 
the law (Deut. xxiv. 16) which forbade this practice. 
(2 Chron. xxv. 1-4; 2 Kings xiv. 1-6.) 
War Gdainst Amaziah then gathered his own men 
acne mek and also hired Israelites to attack Edom, 
which had revolted in the days of 
Jehoram. (2 Kings viii. 20-22.) But asa prophet warned 
him that he would not prosper if he took the Israelites, 
he dismissed them, and in revenge they sacked several 
of the cities of Judah. Amaziah smote Edom, and took 
their rock fortress of Selah. (2 Kings xiv. 7; 2 Chron. 
xxv..5+13.) 


War with 
Israel. 


Elated by his success, and perhaps 
indignant at the conduct of Joash, Amaziah 
challenged the king of Israel to fight 
him. The contemptuous answer of the latter in the 
parable of the thistle shews how disdainfully the 
Northern monarchs looked down upon their rivals in 
Judah. Amaziah was utterly defeated, and the king 
of Israel punished him by the destruction of the 
northern wall of Jerusalem. He also took away many 
treasures from the Temple. (2 Chron. xxv. 17-24; 
2 Kings xiv. 8-14.) Fifteen years after the death 
of Jehoash king of Israel, Amaziah was murdered 
at Lachish, whither he had fled from a conspiracy at 
Jerusalem. (2 Kings xiv. 17-20; 2 Chron. xxv. 27.) 

His son, Azariah or Uzziah, was made 
king by popular acclamation at the age 
of sixteen years, and reigned fifty-two 
years. Solong as he sought the Lord in the days of a 
prophet named Zechariah he prospered more than any of 
the kings before him. He fortified Jerusalem, encouraged 
the art of husbandry, and increased and remodelled his 
army. But, according to the Chronicler, he usurped 
the priestly office by burning incense in the Temple, 
and was stricken with leprosy. For the last seven 


Azariah or 
Uzziah. 


CH. XIS | “ENTANGLEMENTS WITE SYRIA. 153 


years of his reign Jotham, his son, acted as regent. 
(2 Kings xv. 5; 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-21.) 

Jotham, who reigned sixteen years, 
carried on the work of his father and 
strengthened the kingdom. He conquered the Ammon- 
ites, and made them pay a heavy tribute. (2 Chron. 
xxvii. 5.) At the latter part of his reign he was harassed 
by Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, and 
Rezin, king of Syria. (2 Kings xv. 37.) Although both 
Uzziah and Jotham are commended as virtuous kings, it 
is specially noted, that they did not remove the high 
places. 


Jotham. 


SUMMARY. 


ISRAEL, 


(1.) There were five kings of the house of Jehu: Jehu, 
Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam II., and Zechariah. 

(2.) Under Jehu, Hazael ravaged Gilead, and invaded 
Israel. 

(3.) Jehoahaz lost almost all his army in the Syrian 
wars. 

(4.) Joash was able to defeat the Syrians three times, in 
accordance with the prophecy of Elisha on his 
death-bed. 

(5.) Jeroboam II. raised the power of Israel to its 
greatest height. Under him Amos prophesied. 

(6.) Then followed a period of anarchy. Zechariah, son 
of Jeroboam, was murdered by Shallum; Shallum 
by Menahem, who paid tribute to Assyria; 
Menahem’s son by Pekah; and Pekah by Hoshea, 
the last king of Israel. Hosea’s prophecies 
belong to this age of decline. 


154 - BIBLICAL HISTORY. Cow. xix. 


JUDAH. 


(1.) Joash was placed on the throne by Jehoiada, the 
priest. He apostatised after Jehoiada’s death. 
Hazael invaded Judah. 

(2.) Amaziah defeated Edom, and was in turn defeated 
by Joash, king of Israel. 

(3.) Uzziah (or Azariah) reigned long and prosperously. 

3 He was smitten with leprosy. 

(4.) Jotham acted as his father’s viceroy, defeated the 
Ammonites and reigned virtuously, but the high 
places were not taken away. 


rT CEE RA 


AHAZ AND THE FALL OF SAMARIA. 


IJ. Kings XVI.--XVII. II. Chronicles XXVIII. 
Isaiah VII.—VIII. 


Jotham was succeeded by his son Ahaz, 
who ascended the throne when he was 
the Syro- 
Ephraimitish twenty years old. Ahaz was a weak and 
War. wicked king, and unfaithful to Jehovah, 
and actually made his own son to pass 
through the fire to Moloch. 

The important event in his reign is the 
invasion of Judah by the allied armies of 
Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king 
of Syria. The invasion was two-fold. The Syrians 
under Rezin went through Edom and seized Eloth on 
the Red Sea, which from that time became a Syrian 
port. Pekah defeated the army of Ahaz, who feared 
that he would be deposed in favour of the son of Tabeel, 
the candidate of the confederacy. The allied armies 
threatened Jerusalem, evidently with the object of 
forcing Judah to join in an alliance against Assyria. It 
is not surprising, therefore, that the heart of Ahaz was 
moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the 
forest are moved with the wind. (Isa. vii. 2.) 

During this crisis Ahaz sent a message 
Tiglath-Pileser +. Ticlath-Pileser, king of Assyria, im- 
attacks Israel 5 ? : , : 

and Syria: ploring him to help him. Tiglath-Pileser 

aided his vassal by invading Palestine in 
B.c. 734, captured Gaza, and a number of towns in 
Gilead, Galilee and Naphtali, and carried the inhabitan‘s 


Ahaz and 


Invasion of 
Judah. 


156 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XX. 


captive to Assyria. (2 Kings xv. 29.) The next year 
he attacked Syria. He took Damascus, carried off its 
inhabitants to Kir, and slew Rezin. Ahaz then came to 
Damascus to do homage to Tiglath-Pileser, and on his 
return to Jerusalem erected an altar in the Temple 
on the plan of one that he had seen. (2 Kings xvi. 
10-16.) 

At the time of Pekah’s expedition 
against Jerusalem, the great prophet, 
Isaiah, appears prominently. He wasa man of noble 
family, called to his office in the year that king Uzziah 
died; and at the time of the invasion of Judah by the 
Syrians and Israelites, he was already a prophet of 
repute and influence, and the father of a son called 
Shear-Jashub. (Isa. vii. 3.) Like all the prophets of 
his age, he saw that the grinding down of the poor by 
the rich was at the root of the evils of the time. He 
had foretold that a day would come when the rulers of 
Israel would be like children, too feeble to rule the 
state, and that the ruling power would come from the 
harem. (Isa. iii. 12.) 

Under Ahaz his words were fulfilled, and never was a 
king of Judah more blameworthy than he for inviting 
the intervention of Assyria. When Pekah and Rezin 
appeared before Jerusalem, Isaiah met Ahaz and told 
him plainly that neither Pekah nor Rezin were really to 
be feared. They were two tails of smoking firebrands, 
whose light would speedily be quenched, and the land 
would soon be free from both Israelite and Syrian attacks. 
Isaiah then invited Ahaz to ask for a sign from God 
that deliverance would come. But the king, who felt 
that help was already on the way from Assyria, said, I 
will not ask, netther will I tempt the Lord. Isaiah 
sternly rebuked him, saying, Hear ye this, O house of 
David; Is tt a small thing for you to weary men, that 
ye will weary my God also? (Isa. vii. 3-13.) 


‘Isaiah. 


AHAZ AND THE FALL OF SAMARIA. 157 


The sign which Jehovah gave to Ahaz 
was, Behold a virgin shall conceive and 
bear ason, and shail call his name Immanuel (God with 
‘us). St. Matthew sees the fulfilment of this in the birth 
of Our Lord (Matth. i. 22, 23), but to Ahaz it must have 
meant that a child would soon be born, in whose infancy 
Judah would be delivered from Pekah and Rezin. 
Isaiah expressly says that this would come to pass 
before the child knew how to refuse the evil and choose 
the good. The real danger, as the prophet says, was 
from Assyria, whose king he calls the razor that is 
hired, 


Immanuel. 


The fall of Israel was now near. 
Pekah was murdered by Hoshea the 
son of Elah, who had been instigated by 
the Assyrians to seize the throne. Hoshea reigned nine 
years. During the first six he was loyal to Assyria; till 
Sabako or So, king of Egypt, induced him to rebel 
against Shalmaneser IV. 

The Assyrians besieged Samaria for three years, and 
the city was taken in B.c. 722 by Sargon the successor 
of Shalmaneser. With the fall of Samaria the kingdom 
of Israel fell to rise no more. (2 Kings xvii. 23.) 

The Assyrian monuments say that 
only twenty-eight thousand captives were 
taken away from Samaria, but we are informed in the 
book of Kings that the inhabitants of Israel were 
deported and placed in Halah and Habor by the river of 
Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. Half a century 
later, Esarhaddon (B.c. 681-668) placed natives of 
Babylon, Cuthah, Sepharvaim, and other cities, in the 
cities of Samaria. (2 Kings xvii. 24; Ezra iv. 2.) 
These were afterwards known as Samaritans. 

We are told that in the beginning of their settlement 
in their new land they did not fear the Lord, who sent 
lions among them, which killed some of them, Accord- 


The fall of 
Isvael. 


The Samaritans. 


158 - BIBLICAL HISTORY. [cH. XxX. 


ingly they sent to the king of Assyria, asking him to send 
some one to teach them the manner of the God of the 
land. One of the priests who had been taken captive 
was sent to Bethel, to teach them how they should fear 
the Lord. (2 Kings xvii. 25-28.) 

The bitterly hostile Jewish account of these settlers in 
the book of Kings represents them as half idolators, 
fearing the Lord and serving their own gods; but they 
themselves gloried in being descendants of Jacob and 
Joseph, and at a later date certainly worshipped none 
but the God of Israel. (2 Kings xvii. 32-41; S. John 
iv. 20.) 


SUMMARY. 


JUDAH, 


(1.) Ahaz succeeded Jotham. Israel and Syria make an 
alliance against Judah, and Ahaz seeks help of 
Tiglath-Pileser. 

(2.) Isaiah appears and encourages Ahaz against Pekah 
and Rezin: he also gives Ahaz the sign of 
Immanuel. 


ISRAEL. 


(3.) Pekah murdered by Hoshea, the last king of Israel. 

(4.) Hoshea allies with Egypt against Assyria. 

(5.) Samaria besieged by Shalmaneser IV., captured by‘ 
Sargon. 

(6.) The rise of the Samaritan nation and schism. 


CRAP TI UX). 


HEZEKIAH. 


II. Kings XVIII.—xx. 
BiveGbroniclast xxix. Xxx; 
Isaiah XXXVI.—XXXIX. 
Micah. 


Taneeraeitoe With the fall of Samaria the message 
aes of the ten tribes to mankind ceased. The 
sole hope, therefore, of the worshippers 
of the true God was henceforward centred in Judah; 
and the century that followed the retreat of Sennacherib 
gave the Southern Kingdom time to reform the national 
religion on so stable a basis that no subsequent 
calamity was able to shake it. Three names deserve 
to be held in special honour as the saviours of the faith 
of Israel at this critical time: Hezekiah the king, and 
Micah and Isaiah the prophets. 

Micah was a native of Morecietke Gath, 
a village among the hills which slope 
towards the Philistine country. As he foretold the 
destruction of Samaria, he must have prophesied when 
the Assyrians first appeared in Palestine. He de- 
nounced the oppressive conduct of the ruling class in 
Judah; andasa punishment for their crimes he foretold 
the destruction of Jerusalem. 

Isaiah, the counsellor of Ahaz and 
Hezekiah, was a statesman prophet, who 
formulated a national policy, which preserved alike the 
material and religious privileges of the community. He 


Micah. 


Isaiah. 


160 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXI, 


knew that Egypt could not be depended upon, and 
that an alliance with Babylon against Assyria could 
bring no profit to his country. He saw that none 
of Judah’s allies could be trusted, and that its true 
security lay in remaining quiet, assured of the Divine 
protection. 

Hezekiah receives the highest praise 
from the author of the book of Kings: 
He trusted in the Lord God of Israel ; 
so that after him was none like him among all the 
kings of Judah, nor among them that were before 
him. (2 Kings xviii. 5.) But Isaiah does not always 
seem to have been in accord with him, for he denounced 
his minister Shebna (Isa. xxii. 15-19), as well as his 
intrigues with Egypt. (Isa. xxx.-xxxiii.) 

In the early days of his reign Hezekiah appears to 
have followed the crooked policy of his father Ahaz, 
which, after some initial successes, ended in B.C. 701 
by bringing Judah to the verge of ruin. But, warned by 
his disasters, the king finally turned to God, and submitted 
to the guidance of Isaiah. 

Though only once mentioned by name 

Bargon and / 

Herckiah ban wether Bibles (isaskx) id) 8 Sareon, 

the successor of Shalmaneser IV., played 
a great part in the history of Palestine. He com- 
pleted the reduction of Samaria, and then marched 
into Babylonia against its king, Merodach-Baladan. In 
720 B.C. he took Hamath, the ancient ally of Judah in 
the far north. He then went south and defeated So, 
king of Egypt, and the king of Gaza, at the battle 
of Kaphia; and in 715 he took many Arabian captives 
and placed them in the cities of Samaria. While Sargon 
was engaged in suppressing a rebellion in Ararat, 
Hezekiah took a leading part in revolting against him. 
He overthrew the Assyrian party in Philistia, sending 
an embassy to Egypt to ask for assistance against 


_ The character 
of Hezekiah. 


OF, XXI./] HEZEKIAH. 161 


Assyria; a step which was deeply deplored by Isaiah. 
(Isa. xix. 1-17.) 

In the midst of these intrigues Hezekiah | 
was visited by a serious illness. He was 
cured by Isaiah in answer to his earnest 
prayers, who gave him a sign, declaring that the 
shadow should go back ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz, 
and promised him that he should reign for fifteen years 
more. (2 Kings xx. 1-11; Isa. xxxviii.; 2 Chron. xxxii. 
24.) 


Merodach- 
Baladan. 


Hezeckiah’s 
illness. 


At this time Merodach-Baladan, king of 
Babylon, sent an embassy to Jerusalem 
on the pretext of congratulating the king 
on his recovery, but really to arrange a simultaneous 
rising against the Assyrians in Palestine and Babylonia. 
Isaiah rebuked the king for his conduct in showing the 
Babylonians all his preparations for war, and predicted 
that his descendants would go into captivity to Babylon. 
(2 Kings xx. 12-19; Isa. xxxix.; 2 Chron. xxxii. 31.) 

In B.c. 711 the Assyrians again invaded Palestine, 
took Ashdod, laid waste the “broad fields of Judah’, and 
in the following year deposed Merodach-Baladan. 

Sargon died in July B.c. 705 and was 
‘succeeded by Sennacherib. As was 
almost invariably the case, the new king of Assyria 
had to prove that he possessed sufficient vigour to 
maintain the integrity of his empire. Revolts broke out 
on every side. Sennacherib first subdued Merodach- 
Baladan and his enemies in the east; but very dangerous 
signs of disaffection were in the meantime being mani- 
fested in Syria. .Hezekiah, as a moving spirit, had 
persuaded Tyre, Zidon and the Egyptians to oppose the 
Assyrians. The little city states of Palestine were, 
however, no match for the disciplined armies of 
a mighty empire. Sennacherib’s appearance in Syria 
was the signal for a general panic. Only Hezekiah, 


Sennacherib. 


M 


162 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXI. 


supported by the Philistine cities of Ashkelon and 
Ekron, had the hardihood to oppose the invaders. 
But the Assyrian army was irresistible, and. advanced 
along the coast, plundering Ashkelon on its way. (2 
Kings xviii. 13.) 
mate .  Thecollapse of the rebels was complete. 
SEDI aEOR De Hezekiah humbly sued for peace, but 
Hezekiah. ‘ 
this was not granted till forty-six of his 
cities had been taken, more than two hundred thousand 
of his subjects led into captivity, and he himself shut in 
Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage’. It was only by 
abject submission and the payment of a very heavy 
tribute that Hezekiah saved his capital: his dominions 
being apportioned by Sennacherib among the kings he 
had set up in Ashdod, Ekron, and Gaza. 

The crowning day of humiliation came, when Senna- 
cherib deigned to grant terms to Hezekiah. Isaiah saw 
in this shameful peace a Divine call to general mourning; 
but no sooner had the tension of suspense ceased, and 
the people learned that they were not to endure the 
horrors of a siege, than signs of joy were manifested on 
every side. A riotous festival succeeded the days of 
panic. Behold, cries Isaiah, yoy and gladness, slaying 
oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: 
Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die. (Isa. 
«xii. 12-14.) 

The hopeless collapse of Judah, both 
politically and morally, led directly to an 
attempt to reform the national religion. 
A general revival of sacrificial worship took place, 
which was inaugurated by Hezekiah’s famous celebration 
of the Passover. (2 Chron. xxx.) A vigorous attack 
was made upon the Canaanitish worship; and even the 
brazen serpent made by Moses, which had become an 
object of idolatrous veneration known as the Nehushtan, 
was destroyed. (2 Kings xviii. 4.) 


Hezekiah’s 
reforms. 


CH. XX1.] HEZEKIAH. 163 


In these reforms, Hezekiah had the 

Change in sympathy of Isaiah, who must have 

antes rejoiced at the spectacle of a monarch 
has devoting himself to the religious improve- 
Assyria. ment of his people. Perhaps the prophet 
shews his approval in his changed 
attitude towards the Assyrians. Hitherto Isaiah had 
depicted the invaders as the instruments of Divine 
vengeance on the sins of Israel. From this time forth, 
the prophet seems to lay emphasis upon the certainty 
of Assyria’s overthrow, and to assure the people of the 
stability of the Davidic dynasty, of the inviolability 
of Jerusalem, and of the advent of the Messiah as a 
deliverer. 

With the overthrow of Assyria, Isaiah 
pictures an Israel purified and refined by 
trial, entering upon a period of truth and 
justice under a glorified king of the house of David. 
He sees Zion redeemed with righteousness, the centre 
of a perfect kingdom taking the place of the violent and 
unjust empire of Assyria. The shoot of the stock of 
Jesse was to be endued with the spirit of wisdom, under- 
standing, counsel and might, that he might delight in the 
fear of Jehovah, and judge with equity the poor and 
meek of the earth. (Isa. xi. 1-9.) 

The biblical account of the retreat of 


Messianic 
hopes. 


Bay of Sennacherib is one of the most vividly 
Sennacherib f 
hetane dramatic narratives in the Old Testament. 


Jerusalem. The escape of Jerusalem from destruction 
may justly be regarded as the crowning 

triumph of the religious reformation of the age of 
Hezekiah. (2 Kings xviii. 17—xix. 36; 2 Chron. xxxii.; 
‘Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii.) The great officers of Sennacherib, 
the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh (chief 
cup-bearer), appeared before Jerusalem at the head 
of an army, to demand the surrender of the city. They 


, ) 
164 BIBLICAL HISTORY. fcH, Xxt. 


came and stood by the condutt of the upper pool, which 
is in the'highway of the fuller’s field. Hezekiah sent 
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, with Shebna the scribe, 
and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to meet the 
envoys of the Great King. The Rabshakeh, as spokes- 
man, shewed himself to be an overbearing and insolent 
man, but at the same time possessed of a _ shrewd 
knowledge of the weak points of the character of the 
Judzeans. He opened the discussion by asking what 
had induced Hezekiah to resist his master. Did he 
trust in Egypt? It was like trusting upon the staff of 
a bruised reed. . . whereontf a manleanit will go 
into his hand and pierce it. Did he trust in Jehovah? 
The Rabshakeh appealed to the disaffected party in 
Judah, who doubtless regarded Hezekiah as a sacrilegious 
fanatic for removing the ancient sanctuaries, and asked, 
Is not that he whose high places and whose altars 
Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and 
to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in 
Jerusalem P 
So ridiculous did it seem to an Assyrian 
The Rabshakeh Qf: -ia] that the king of Judah should 
addresses the i : 
people. rely on his material resources, that 
he offered scornfully to wager that, if 
he gave Hezekiah two thousand horses, he could not 
find riders for them. ‘The ministers of Hezekiah, afraid 
of the forcible effect of these taunts on the people, 
besought the Rabshakeh to speak in the Aramzan dialect, 
the diplomatic language of all Syria, and not to use the 
Jewish tongue; but the Assyrian officer was too astute 
to consent to this. He declared that he had been sent, 
not to Hezekiah, but to the people of Jerusalem, and 
with a loud voice offered terms to them. If they would. 
surrender they should all be at liberty to go back to their 
farms till the king of Assyria could find them a suitable 
territory in some other part of his dominions. At last, 


Cy XxT, | HEZEKIAH, 165 


forgetting that he had been posing as the ally of those 
who supported the ancient worship of Jehovah against 
the innovations of Hezekiah, the Rabshakeh reveals his 
contempt for the God of Israel, and asks, Where are 
the gods of Hamath, and of Arbad? . . . have they 
delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they 
among the gods of the countries, that have delivered 
their country out of my hand, that Jehovah should 
deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ? 

These blasphemies against their God 
Sennacherib’s : : 
army. smitten, evidently exasperated the people, but, in 

obedience to the king’s command, they 
listened to them in sullen silence. Hezekiah sent 
Ehakim and Shebna with the elders of the priests 
to Isaiah, who exhorted them to be of good courage, 
for Jehovah would put a spirit in Sennacherib and 
cause him to hear a rumour, that he might return and 
fall by the sword in his own land. The Rabshakeh 
found his master at Libnah, awaiting the advance of 
Tirhakah, the Ethiopian king of Egypt. Having no 
spare troops to detach for the siege of Jerusalem, 
Sennacherib trusted to the effect of a violent letter to 
Hezekiah ordering him to surrender the place. In his 
despair the king spread the letter before Jehovah, and 
received from Isaiah the famous oracle against Senna- 
cherib, beginning The virgin daughter of Zion hath 
despised thee and laughed thee to scorn, and ending 
with the words of Jehovah concerning the king of 
Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot 
an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with 
shield, nor cast a mount against tt. By the way that 
he came, by the same shall he return; and he shall not 
come unto this city, saith Jehovah. ‘That very night 
the angel of Jehovah smote an hundred and eighty- 
five thousand of the invaders. So Sennacherib king 
of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and 


166 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XXI. 


dwelt at Nineveh. Some years afterwards, in 681 BiCy 
he was slain by his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer. 
(Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii.; 2 Kings xviii., xix.) 


SUMMARY. 


(1., With the fall of Samaria, Judah came _ into 
prominence as the sole hope of the worshippers 
of the True God. 

(2.) Three of the saviours of the Faith of Israel at this 
critical time were Hezekiah the king, and the 
prophets, Micah of Moresheth Gath, and Isaiah. 

(3.) Hezekiah seems to have been at first inclined to a 
worldly policy ; but, warned by his disasters, he 
turned to God, and allowed himself to be guided 
by Isaiah. 

(4.) He began by rebelling against Assyria, and con- 
trary to the advice of Isaiah, trusted in the 
broken reed of Egypt. 

(5.) After a serious illness, from which he recovered, 
he plotted, with Merodach-Baladan, king of 
Babylon, against Assyria. This was probably 
the cause of Sargon’s invasion in B.c. 711. 

(6.) After this Hezekiah seems to have followed the 
advice of Isaiah and to have reformed religion in 
Jerusalem. 

(7.) The invasion of Sennacherib followed in B.c. 701, 
and the Assyrian army was destroyed by the 
Angel of the Lord. 


GHAR TR S007 


THE: LAST DAYS! OF “THE! KINGDOM) OF \JUDAT. 


II. Kings XXI.—xXXv. 

II. Chronicles XXXIII.—XXXVI. 
Jerémiah 1I., Vil; XXII.; XXKV., XXXVI. 
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. 


With the death of Hezekiah the party 
in favour of the semi-idolatrous worship 
reasserted itself. Manasseh, the new king, was only 
twelve years of age at his accession, and the opponents 
of Hezekiah’s religious policy found in him a ready tool. 
For nearly sixty years the advocates of a purer worship 
of Jehovah were silenced and persecuted. According 
to tradition, Isaiah himself was one of the victims. 
(2 Kings xxi. 1-18; Heb. xi. 37.) The high places were | 
restored, and the practice of burning children to Moloch 
again introduced. Idolatrous objects, such as altars to 
the host of heaven and horses of the sun, were multi- 
plied in the Temple itself. The wickedness of Manasseh, 
whose reign extended over fifty-five years, is denounced 
in the strongest terms in the book of Kings. He shed 
innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem 
from one end to the other; besides his sin whereby he 
made Judah to sin. (2 Kings xxi. 16.) The Chronicler 
says that Manasseh was taken a captive to Babylon, 
where he repented and was restored (2 Chron. xxxiii. 
11 ff.), but no hint of this is given in the book of Kings. 

Of the long reign of Manasseh we 
know little; but, if the voices of the 
prophets were silenced, their pens may 
well have been busy. In Proverbs mention is made of 


Manasseh. 


Literature of 
the period. 


168 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXII. 


the men of Hezekiah who copied out some of Solomon’s 
sayings (Prov. xxv. 1); and those who survived their 
master may have prepared for the time when the cause 
of Jehovah would again prevail, by reinforcing the 
utterances of the prophets with a permanent religious 
literature. 

The chief literary productions of this age were—per- 
haps the concluding chapters of Micah (vi.—vii.) ; the 
prophecy of the fall of Assyria by Nahum; and above 
all, Deuteronomy. ‘The historical groundwork of this 
beautiful book is the ancient narrative of Israel’s 
wandering in the Wilderness. The laws are those of 
the Book of the Covenant, enlarged and expanded to 
meet the needs of the age. The writer, or editor, took 
the laws of Moses as a basis of a discourse to the men 
of his own time, inculcating the duty of Israel to serve 
Jehovah for the love of Him, and denouncing the sin of 
idolatry and its inevitable punishment. Thus in the 
dark days of Manasseh preparation was made for a 
further and more durable reformation than that of 
Hezekiah. ' 

Manasseh’s son Amon reigned but two 
years. He was succeeded by Josiah, a 
child of eight. ‘The guardians of the young king 
favoured the prophetical party; and in the eighth year 
of his reign Josiah began to seek the Lord, and in the 
twelfth to suppress idolatry. (2 Chron. xxxiv. 3.) 

The aleucvery During the reign of Josiah an invasion 
of the Book Of Scythians, alluded to by both the 
of the Law, Prophets Zephaniah and Jeremiah, swept 

over Palestine. Jerusalem was spared, 
and this fact probably made Josiah and his ministers 
more zealous to honour Jehovah. When the Temple 
was restored, the high priest, Hilkiah, announced that he 
had found the Book of the Law in the House of the 
Lord. ‘This was probably the book of Deuteronomy, 


Josiah. 


CH. xx.] THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAH. 169 


and the king was greatly distressed at the terrible 
denunciations of apostasy and its penalties. A pro- 
phetess naned Huldah was consulted, and declared that 
the evil predicted would assuredly come upon Jerusalem, 
but not in the days of Josiah. (2 Kings xxii.) 

Josiah now undertook a reformation 
far more thorough than that of Hezekiah. 
On receiving Huldah’s response, the 
newly-found book was read and a solemn covenant 
made. The Temple was purified of every trace of 
idolatry. The high places of Judah were destroyed, and 
their priests brought to Jerusalem and forbidden to 
sacrifice in the Temple, though they were allowed to eat 
unleavened bread among their brethren. Topheth, 
where the children were sacrificed, was defiled, and the 
chariots of the sun burned. All Solomon’s sanctuaries 
were demolished; and Josiah’s zeal extended to the 
ancient kingdom of Israel. At Bethel, Jeroboam’s altar 
was polluted by the bones of the dead; only the sepulchre 
of the disobedient prophet, who had announced its ruin 
(1 Kings xiii. 2), was spared. On his return to Jeru- 
salem, Josiah kept the Passover with great solemnity. 
(2 Kings xxiii. 1-25.) The permanent effect of this re- 
formation was that Jerusalem was recognised as the one 
sanctuary at which sacrifices could legitimately be 
offered. 


Death of 
Josiah. 


Reformation 
by Josiah. 


This reformation, owing to its hasty 
and violent methods, was only super- 
ficial; but it raised high hopes alike in 
king and people, which soon proved delusive. In 
B.C. 608, Pharaoh-Necho was traversing the Plain of 
Esdraelon on his way to secure the important fortress 
of Carchemish on the Euphrates. Josiah, for some reason 
unknown, marched against him, and was utterly defeated 
at Megiddo. His death and the destruction of his army 
heralded the ruin of his people. Judah was now alter- 


170 : BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXII. 


nately tributary to Egypt and to the new empire of 
Babylon. 
The Assyrian Empire came to an end 
Rise of the ith the destruction of Nineveh by 
Chaldaeans: ; 
and Babylon. Nabopolassar in B.C. 607. Hencefor- 
ward the Chaldaeans were the leading 
nation in the East; and in 605 the Egyptians were 
defeated on the Euphrates. Syria and. Palestine now 
passed under the influence of Nebuchadrezzar the son 
of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon. 
Four kings reigned in Judah after 
Josiah’s : . 
successors, Josiah. Jehoahaz, who was raised to the 
throne after the battle of Megiddo, 
reigned for but three months. Pharaoh-Necho then 
summoned him to Riblah, and sent him to exile in 
Egypt. His brother Eliakim was set up in his place, 
and his name changed to Jehciakim. This king proved 
a contemptible tyrant, and he is denounced as such by 
the prophets Jeremiah and Habakkuk, and in the books 
of Kings and Chronicles. His end is obscure; but he 
evidently offended Nebuchadrezzar, and all hope of 
support from Egypt was at an end. Jehoiakim’s son 
Coniah, like Jehoahaz, reigned but three months. He 
was then taken captive to Babylon, where he was kept 
in confinement for thirty-eight years. With the king, 
Nebuchadrezzar deported all the flower of the people 
of Jerusalem; and the Babylonish Captivity dates 
from the reign of Jehoiachin, or Coniah, as he is 
Yalso called. (2 Kings xxiv.; 2 Chron. xxxvi. Jer. xxii.) 
Another son of Josiah, called Mattaniah, whose name 
was changed to Zedekiah, was set over the remnant. 
The Prophet Jeremiah played an im- 
portant part in the affairs of Judah during 
this period. He was a priest, a native of Anathoth in 
Benjamin. Though his tone is that of the book of 
Deuteronomy, he does not seem to have taken much 


geremiah. . 


CH. XXII. ] LHEVDASE DAYS OF JUDAH, 171 


part in the reformation of Josiah, but to have seen from 
the first its hollowness. Unlike Isaiah, Jeremiah did 
not teach the inviolability of the Temple, but clearly 
foresaw that the religion of the future would be 
independent of external objects. Heanticipates St. Paul 
in declaring that the law of the future would be written 
in the heart rather than on tables of stone. (Jer. xxxi. 33.) 
Even the ark of the covenant would be forgotten when 
men recognised the spiritual nature of the Law of God. 
(Jer. iii. 16.) Indeed, no one could be less sacerdotal 
than Jeremiah, who disparages even sacrifices, and 
denies that they were the important part of the legisla- 
tion in the Wilderness. (Jer. vii. 22.) He considered 
the Temple to be no more safe from ruin than the 
ancient sanctuary of Shiloh had been in the days of Eli. 
(Jer. vii. 12-14.) The prophet sums up in a few sen- 
tences the reigns of the successors of Josiah, to whom 
he gives unstinting praise. He did judgement and 
gustice, and then 1t was well with him. Very different 
was his unworthy son Jehoiakim, who built his house by 
unrighteousness, ... and used his neighbours’ service 
without wages. As for the unfortunate Jehoiachin, 
Jeremiah foretold that he would be delivered into the 
hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, to be led 
into captivity—never to return. (Jer. xxii.) 
‘ But though he would allow of no delu- 
Jeremiah and . j 
the Return, S100 as to the certainty of the fall of 
Jerusalem and the captivity, Jeremiah 
had no doubt as to the ultimate return of the people to 
Jerusalem; and he even predicted that the duration of 
the exile would be seventy years. This hope of a return 
encouraged and supported the prophet in all his trials. 
The thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth chap- 
ters of Jeremiah relate two episodes in the 
reign of Jehoiakim. When the king of 
Babylon was ravaging the land, the Rechabites or 


Jeremiah and 
Jehoiakim. 


172 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXII 


followers of Jehonadab, or Jonadab (2 Kings x. 15), took 
refuge in Jerusalem. By command of Jehovah, Jeremiah 
took them into the Temple and offered them wine. 
When they told him that Jehonadab “their father’ had 
forbidden this, and that they had strictly obeyed his 
commands, Jeremiah contrasted their loyalty with 
Israel’s disregard of Jehovah, and declared in His name 
Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to 
stand before Me for ever. 

In the following chapter Jeremiah prepared a roll con- 
taining Jehovah’s denunciations against Israel, which his 
faithful scribe Baruch read to the people. When 
Jehoiakim read the roll he cut it with a penknife and 
burnt it, for which act of defiance of Jehovah his doom 
was foretold. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) Religious reaction under Manasseh and restoration 
of the high places. 

(2.) Manasseh’s captivity and repentance. 

(8.) Reformation under Josiah. Discovery of the Book 
of the Law in the House of the Lord. 

(4.) Death of Josiah at Megiddo. 

(5.) Rise of the Chaldaean empire in Babylon. 

(6.) Josiah’s descendants—Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and 
Jehoiachin. 

(7.) Jehoiachin taken to Babylon—beginning of the 
Captivity. 

(8.) Jeremiah—contrasted with Isaiah—predicts the 
Return. The Rechabites praised for their obedi- 
ence; and the roll of the book destroyed by 
Jehoiakim. 


CHAPTER ‘XXIII. 


THE CAPTIVITY. 


II. Kings XXIV.—XxXvV. 
FPA Chiron, XXKVI. 
Jeremiah XXXVIII.—xXLIII. 
Ezekiel. 


The captives led away with Jehoiachin 
were the princes, warriors and craftsmen 
of Jerusalem; those who remained are 
described as the poorest sort of the people of the land. 
A certain number of men of rank, including the Chief 
Priest and the prophet Jeremiah, were allowed to stay in 
Judah. Over these Nebuchadrezzar set up Zedekiah 
as king, after making him take an oath of allegiance of 
no ordinary solemnity. (Ezek. xvii. 12-14.) Jeremiah in 
relating a vision shews the contrast between the flower 
of the nation, which had been taken to Babylon, and the 
remnant left behind. He was shewn two baskets of 
figs: the good figs very good, and the bad very bad; they 
cannot be eaten, they are so bad. (Jer. xxiv. 3.) 

From the beginning of Zedekiah’s 
reign Jeremiah threw his whole influence 
on the side of fidelity to the covenant 
made with Nebuchadrezzar. He saw that herein lay 
the sole hope of saving the city. The fanatical prophets 
scorned the wise advice of their more experienced col- 
league. Hananiah, for example, solemnly foretold that 
within two years the Temple treasures would be restored, 
and the yoke of the king of Babylon be broken. (Jer. 
xxviil. 1-11.) Analliance with Egypt was eagerly advo- 
cated, and Jeremiah denounced as a traitor to his country, 


The remnant in 
Judah. 


| Jeremiah and 
Zedekiah. 


¢ 


174 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XXIII, 


In the midst of this ferment, Ezekiel, the captive priest 
and prophet, urged submission to Babylon as strongly as 
Jeremiah, declaring that the prophets of Judah have 
seduced My people, saying Peace, and there was no 
peace. (Ezek. xiii. 10.) Zedekiah seems to have been 
anxious to follow this wise advice, but his people were 
too strong for him, and he was forced to break his 
compact with Babylon and to ally himself with Egypt. 
(Ezek. xvii. 15 f.) 

As a punishment for this perfidy, 
Nebuchadrezzar sent an army against 
Jerusalem, which was invested in January, 
B.C. 588, and taken and destroyed in July, B.c. 586. 
During the siege Jeremiah consistently advised sub- 
mission, saying that those who remained in the city would 
assuredly be slain; but if any would surrender to the 
Chaldaeans he would be spared, and his life shall be 
unto him for a prey. Such advice naturally caused 
him to be suspected by the party of resistance; but he 
was soon able to shew that he was a true patriot, who 
had not lost his trust in Jehovah, by buying a family 
estate at Anathoth for its full price. ‘To the prophet the 
return from captivity was as certain as the imminent 
destruction of the city. (Jer. xxxii.) 

Infuriated by his words, his enemies 
twice cast Jeremiah into prison, once 
into a loathsome dungeon, and the second 
time into an empty cistern, from whence he could only 
be drawn up by ropes. Zedekiah—who evidently meant 
well, but was under the control of his princes—procured 
the prophet’s deliverance and gave him an allowance of 
bread during the siege. 

When the city was taken by assault, 
Zedekiah and his chosen warriors tried 
to escape, and were not overtaken till 
they reached the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah was taken 


Destruction of 
Jerusalem. 


Jeremiah 
imprisoned. 


) Jerusalem 
taken. 


CH. XXIII.] THE CAPTIVITY. 175 


before Nebuchadrezzar at Riblah, his sons were slain 
before his eyes, and he was then blinded and led captive 
to Babylon, where he died. (Jer. xxxix. 1-7.) The 
Temple was burned and its treasures taken to Babylon ; 
the walls of the city were destroyed, as well as the 
principal houses. Only the poorest were left to till the 
soil. (Jer. lit, 12-23.) 

Jeremiah was treated with consideration, 
and was free to go to Babylon or stay 
in his own land. He chose the latter, 
and remained with the remnant, who were put under the 
charge of a man named Gedaliah. These settled at 
Mizpah, and, owing to an abundant season, seemed likely 
to prosper. But Gedaliah was murdered by Ishmael 
the son of Nethaniah ; and the people, fearing the wrath 
of Nebuchadrezzar, fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with 
them. ‘There we lose sight of them and of the prophet, 
who never ceased to rebuke their idolatry. (Jer. xl.—xliv.) 

The exiled Jews do not appear to have 
been harshly treated, but to have been 
allowed much liberty in their new home. 
Many of them, if we may believe tradition, rose to 
posts of great influence under their new masters. The 
majority seem to have prospered, but there was always 
a minority of faithful souls, who could have no pleasure 
away from the Holy City. Their feelings are well 
expressed in the Psalm By the waters of Babylon we 
sat down and wept. (Ps. cxxxvii.) 

; It took six months for the news of the 
fall of Jerusalem to reach Tel-Abib, the 
home of Ezekiel, the priest-prophet of the Captivity. 
Now begins the prophet’s constructive work, which had 
such an abiding effect on later generations. In his famous 
vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Ezekiel foretells the 
revival of the nation; and the concluding chapters of his 
book are devoted to a description of the restored Temple 


Gedaliah and 
the remnant. 


The Jews in 
Babylon. 


Ezekiel. 


176 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XXIIL 


at Jerusalem, and the services of the sanctuary, con- 
cluding with a description of the issuing forth from 
Jerusalem of the holy waters to cleanse and fertilise the 
land. The twelve tribes are to dwell on each side of 
the Temple, which is to be the centre of a restored 
Israel under the rule of a peaceful Prince. The last 
chapters of Ezekiel are considered by some to be the 
kernel of the later Priestly Law of the Jews. (Ezek. 
xl.—xlviii.) 
The book of Daniel contains much 
that can only be attributed to the days of 
the Maccabean wars, and was probably written about 
B.C. 165. But it is a description of life in the days of 
- the Captivity, and the writer is careful to shew how 
scrupulously the Jews observed their Law under the 
most trying conditions. Daniel and his companions, 
Ananias, Azarias, and Misael (Shadrach, Meshach, and 
Abed-nego), steadily refuse to eat unclean food (Dan. i.), 
to worship idols (Dan. iii.), or to desist from regular 
prayer to the God of Israel (Dan. vi.), and are miracu- 
lously delivered from peril, whether it be the Fiery 
Furnace or the Den of Lions. The kings mentioned 
are Nebuchadrezzar, his son Belshazzar, Cyrus, and 
‘Darius the Median’. Of these only the first and third 
can be identified with any certainty. Belshazzar was, as 
we now know, not the son of Nebuchadrezzar, but of 
Nabonidus who was actually king when Babylon was 
taken by Cyrus. 


Daniel. 


The strange story of the book of 
Esther, though it does not refer to the 
Babylonian Captivity, but to the Jews under the 
Persians, may be here alluded to as an example of 
the hostility of certain people to the nation, and the 
dangers to which it was exposed. It relates how Queen 
Esther, the Jewess, interceded on behalf of her people 
to Ahasuerus (Xerxes, B.C. 485-465), king of Persia, who 


Esther. 


CH. XXIII. ] THE GAPTIVIDY: 177 


had been persuaded by Haman to give orders that they 
should be exterminated. At the instigation of Mordecai, 
her uncle, a Jewish councillor of the king, Esther braved 
her husband’s displeasure, and obtained leave for her 
people to defend themselves. This curious story is told 
to account for the feast of Purim (lots), so called because 
Haman cast lots to decide when the Jews should be 
destroyed. It is remarkable that the name of God is 
not so much as mentioned in the whole book. 


SUMMARY. 


(1.) Zedekiah is made king instead of Jehoiachin. 

(2.) Takes an oath to Nebuchadrezzar, but violates it 
by intriguing with Egypt. 

(3.) Jerusalem is besieged, and Jeremiah imprisoned for 
his advice to submit to the Chaldaeans. 

(4.) Capture of the city, B.c. 586. 

(5.) Jeremiah left behind with the remnant under 

Gedaliah at Mizpah. 

(6.) Murder of Gedaliah, and escape of people to Egypt. 

(7.) Ezekiel plans the laws of the restored community. 

(8.) Stories of the Captivity in the book of Daniel. 

(9.) Esther rescues the Jews by her intercession. 


Ye 


CTLUAP IE Rao. 


THE RETURN AND THE SETTLEMENT IN 
JUDAH. 


Il.) Chronicles XXXVI. 22,23, 
iszta. 

Nehemiah. 

Haggai. 

Zechariah. 

Malachi. 


The Chaldean: kingdom of Babylon 
founds the. came to an end in B.C. 538, in the reign 
Medo-Persian ©! 4 king named Nabu-nahid (Gr. Nabo- 
Empire. nidus), who is not mentioned in the Bible, 
though his son Belshazzar is, as we have 
seen, called the king of the Chaldeans in the book of 
Daniel. Nabu-nahid had incurred the enmity of the 
priests and people of Babylon, and the city opened her 
gates to Cyrus, the founder of the Medo-Persian empire. 
In the later chapters of the book of Isaiah (xl.-Ixvi.) we 
learn that the Jews looked upon Cyrus as their great 
deliverer, raised up by Jehovah to restore Jerusalem. 
The Persians, who abhorred idolatry almost as much as 
the Jews, had more points in sympathy with the exiled 
nation than the Babylonians; and in Isaiah, or the later 
prophet who wrote in his name, Jehovah saith of Cyrus, 
he 1s my shepherd, who shall perform all my pleasure. 
(Isa. xliv. 28.) 


Cyrus 


CH. XXIV.] THE RETURN. 178 


ee One of the first acts of Cyrus in 
ens Pee Babylon was to issue the following 
e return of . : : 
Hiedeus edict: Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, 
All the kingdoms of the earth hath 
the Lord, the God of Heaven, given me; and He hath 
charged me to build Him an house in Jerusalem, which 
ts in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all 
his people, hts God be with him, and let him go up to 
Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of 
the Lord, the God of Israel. (Ezrai. 2,3.) The king 
further allowed the Jews to contribute to the furtherance 
of the work, and restored all the spoil of the Temple 
taken by Nebuchadrezzar. 
Those who returned in the days of 
RCE aaa Cyrus were a minority of the settlers in 
under , : 
Zerubbabel. abylon, and consisted of those pious and 
patriotic souls who knew no happiness 
but in the service of their God. Their equipment was 
supplied by their wealthier brethren. The leaders were 
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, of the house of David, 
and the High Priest, Joshua the son of Jozadak. 
Setting up of In the seventh month, at the time of 
evi the Feast of Tabernacles, the festival on 
which Solomon had dedicated his Temple, 
the people gathered themselves together as one man to 
Jerusalem. (Ezraiii. 1.) The feast was duly observed, . 
the altar set up on its base, and henceforward the 
customary sacrifices prescribed by the Law were offered. 
It was not til] the second year of the Return that 
the foundations of the Temple were laid with much 
solemnity, the priests blowing the silver trumpets, and 
the Levites of the sons of Asaph clashing their cymbals, 
and praising Jehovah in antiphonal song, For He ts 
good, for His mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. 
(Ezra iii. 11.) As the people shouted, the elders who 
had seen the old House wept, so that the people could 


180 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXIV. 


not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise 
of the weeping of the people. (Ezra iii. 13.) 
No sooner had the work of building the 
Zerubbabel Temple commenced than the adversaries 
refuses to of Judah and Benjamin, as the 
allow the ; ; 
co-operation of Samaritans are called in the book of 
the Samaritans. Ezra, claimed a right to assist; for, said 
they, We seek your God as ye do, 
since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, which 
brought us up hither. (Ezra iv. 2.) This offer was 
refused in no gracious terms by Zerubbabel: Ye have 
nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; 
but we ourselves will build unto the Lord, the God of 
Israel, as king Cyrus, king of Persia, commanded us. 
(Ezra iv. 3.) Thus repulsed, the Samaritans and the 
people of the land became the bitter enemies of the 
restored community; and the Jews, disheartened, and 
perhaps suspected by the government, completely 
abandoned the work of rebuilding the Temple. 
In B.c. 521 Darius Hystaspis became 
Temple king of Persia; and as he was thought 
completed r 
under Darius. ‘© be friendly to the Jews, the prophets 
Haggai and Zechariah began to urge 
upon Zerubbabe! and Joshua the need of continuing the 
building of the Temple. But as no Temple could be 
erected without permission from the king of Persia, no 
sooner had the work recommenced, than the satrap 
Tattenai asked the Jews, Who gave you a decree to 
build this house and to finish this wall? (Ezra v. 3.) 
He agreed, however, to let them go on with their work 
antil the pleasure of Darius should be known. Asa 
decree of Cyrus was found in Ecbatana in Persia, which 
granted permission to the Jews to build the Temple at 
Jerusalem, Darius confirmed this edict and ordered 
Tattenai to do all in his power to encourage the work. 
The Second Temple was finished in the sixth year of 


CH. xxIV.] THE SETTLEMENT 1N JUDAH. 181 


Darius, B.C. 516. In the month after its completion the 
Passover was celebrated with unusual solemnity. (Ezra 
“ri. 15-18.) 

The Jewish community was under a 
Sixty years of : t 

sitenaet governor, appointed either by the Great 
King or the satrap who ruled the 
province west of the Euphrates. The first governor 
was probably Zerubbabel, after whom the Davidic 
family seems to have lost its influence. Henceforward 
the governor was no longer a Jew, but a Persian official, 
who oppressed the people with very heavy taxes. But 
on the other hand they enjoyed complete religious 
freedom, with a considerable amount of self-government. 
With the disappearance of the power of the royal house 
the High Priest became the head of the Jewish 
community. Already the priesthood had begun to be 
regarded as the aristocracy; as we read of families 
who desired to be recognised as members, but could not 
prove their descent. According to the lists in the books 
of Ezra and Nehemiah, over four thousand priests 
returned under Zerubbabel. 

The Persian kings were, on the whole, well disposed 
to their Jewish subjects; but the one to whom the Jews 
of Palestine owed most was Artaxerxes Longimanus, a 
wise monarch who became the patron of Ezra and 
Nehemiah. 


ay In B.c. 458, nearly eighty years after 
The mission the Return and fifty-eight after the com- 
and reforms : ; 
of Ezra, Pletion of the Temple, Ezra, a priest, 
armed with an edict from Artaxerxes, 
made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the head of a 
considerable body of Jews. 

This edict gave him full powers to enquire concerning 
Judah and Jerusalem, and to take the offerings of the 
king and his seven counsellors to the Temple, together 
with the freewill offerings of the priests and people. He 


182 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXIV. 


was also empowered to draw freely upon the royal 
treasury, to appoint judges, to teach the Law of God, 
and, if necessary, to punish disobedience with death. 
He bore no Persian title, but was styled Priest and 
Scribe. (Ezra vii. 11.) 

After proclaiming a solemn fast, the expedition started. 
They reached Jerusalem some four months after their 
departure from Babylon, and after a rest of three days, 
presented their offerings, and made a solemn sacrifice for 
all Israel. They spent some time in presenting their 
credentials to the royal officers of the district, and in 
assisting the people to decorate the Temple. Ezra, how- 
ever, soon discovered to his grief that the Jews had inter- 
married with the heathen. (Ezra ix. 1-3.) Whereupon 
a solemn assembly was held, a commission was ap- 
pointed, and the foreign wives were put away. (Ezra x.) 

It is probable that at this time an 
Possible attempt was made to rebuild the walls of 


RATT Jerusalem, but was interrupted by the 
GREE oF hostility of the surrounding peoples, pos- 


Jerusalem. Sibly irritated by the repudiation of their 
daughters by their Jewish husbands. An 
appeal was made to Artaxerxes, who commanded the 
work to be stopped. His commands were executed with 
all the zeal of hatred. (Ezra iv. 23.) It appears as if at 
this time the gates of Jerusalem were burned and the 
walls demolished. 
Thirteen years after Ezra had left 


ae sa Babylon, Nehemiah, the cup-bearer to 
Wey teacn king Artaxerxes, encouraged by his 


master’s sympathy, petitioned him to be 
allowed to go to Jerusalem, with the authority to procure 
from Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest (paradise), a 
supply of timber to restore the walls. Artaxerxes granted 
his request, made him a Tirshatha, or provincial governor 
and sent him to Jerusalem with an armed escort. 


CH. XXIV.] THE SETTLEMENT IN JUDAH. 183 


On his arrival Nehemiah proceeded 
with caution, as he perceived he had 
powerful enemies in the persons of San- 
ballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, who 
not only headed the Samaritans, but were bound by 
family ties to some of the influential priests in Jerusalem. 
He therefore made a survey of the city walls by night, 
and next day revealed to the assembled people the 
authority he had received from Artaxerxes, and invited 
them to rebuild the walls. With one accord the people 
cried, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened 
their hands for the good work. (Nehem. ii. 11-18.) 
So great was the earnestness with which this great 
enterprise was carried out, that in fifty-two days Jerusa- 
lem was once more a fortified city. (Nehem. vi. 15.) 

The work was opposed by Sanballat 
and Tobiah, who charged the people with 
sedition ; and when the circuit of the wall 
was built up to half its height, they appeared before the 
city with a mixed army of Arabians, Ammonites, and 
Ashdodites. Nehemiah thereupon maintained a constant 
guard with his household troops, closed the gates at night, 
and armed the workmen. His foes then tried to produce 
sedition in the city itself by means of their supporters in 
Jerusalem, but were outwitted by the courage and astute- 
ness of the governor. 

Meanwhile scarcity of provisions and high prices 
caused the poor to complain of the heavy usury charged 
by the rich. Nehemiah put an end to the state of affairs 
by forbidding the practice of usury, and of selling the 
insolvent as slaves. (Nehem. v. 1-13.) 

; When the gates were set up, there 

Saal eee were very few houses, still fewer in- 

habitants, and the position was so dan- 
gerous that the gates were never opened till long after 


The rebuilding 
of the walls. 


Opposition to 
Nehemiah. 


184 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XXIV. 


sunrise. Nehemiah consequently provided inhabitants 
for the city by the selection by lot of one out of every 
ten of the Jewish families in the neighbourhood to settle 
within the walls. A certain number of their own free 
will left their homes to dwell in Jerusalem, and were 
deemed worthy of special commendation. (Nehem. vii. 4, 
xi. 1-2.) 

Nehemiah shewed his sympathy with 

Nehemiah’s ihe poverty of the Jews by refusing to 

consideration 
for the people. accept the allowance usually exacted by 

the governor, and by daily entertaining 
one hundred and fifty of the people at his own table. 
(Nehem. v. 14-19.) Assisted by Ezra, he directed the 
ceremony of the dedication of the walls, and provided for 
the due maintenance of the ministers of the Temple. He 
insisted on a rigid observance of the Sabbath, and waged 
unrelenting war against mixed marriages. 

In B.c. 433 he was recalled to Shushan, 
and on his return found that Eliashib, 
the High Priest, had. established his old adversary, 
Tobiah, in one of the chambers of the Temple, and had 
allowed his grandson to marry Sanballat’s daughter. 
Nehemiah cast the furniture of Tobiah out of the 
Temple, and drove Eliashib out of Jerusalem for having 
brofaned the priesthood. (Nehem. xiii. 7-8.) 

Between B.C. 445 and 432 a religious 
ceremony took place which explains 
Nehemiah’s zeal for the reformation of 
the Temple and the priesthood. 

At the beginning of the seventh month, when all the 
people were assembled to celebrate the religious 
festivities at Jerusalem, Ezra, in obedience to the 
popular demand, brought forth the Book of the Law of 
Moses, and read it to the congregation in the broad 
place that was before the water gate. (Nehem, viii. 1-3.) 


His recall. 


The reading of 
the Law. 


CH. XXIV.| THE SETTLEMENT IN JUDAH. 185 


Ezra delivered the Law from a wooden pulpit, around 
which the Levites stood and interpreted it to the people, 
who were conscience-stricken, and broke out into loud 
lamentations. But Ezra restrained them, saying it was 
a day for rejoicing, for God’s will had been revealed to 
His people. The joy of the Lord is your strength. 
(Nehem. viii. 10.) On the second day the feast of 
Tabernacles was observed by the people dwelling 
in booths (Lev. xxiii. 42) as they had not done 
since the days of Joshua the son of Nun. (Neh. 
viii. 17.) 

Two days later a fast, not unlike that of the Day of 
Atonement (which however preceded the Feast of 
Tabernacles), was held, and the seed of Israel, having 
formally separated itself from all strangers, made a 
humble confession of national sin. Finally the whole 
people agreed to enter into a solemn compact, in which 
they bound themselves to observe the Law of Moses, 
not to intermarry with the heathen, not to traffic 
on the Sabbath, to keep the Sabbatical year, to pay 
a poll tax of one-third of a shekel to maintain the 
service of the Temple, and to give first-fruits and 
tithes. 

The promulgation of the Law is a 
| fitting conclusion to the story of the Old 
Covenant, as with it a new period of religious history 
begins. The Law of God, instead of being the property 
of a priestly caste, became accessible to all who desired 
to know it. The Old Dispensation had ceased, and 
Malachi, the last of the old prophets, sets his seal on it 
‘in words that foretold that the prophetic dispensation 
would be revived by the sending of Elijah to prepare 
the nation before the great and terrible day of the Lord 
come. (Mal. iv. 5.) 


A new Era. 


186 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XXIV. 


SUMMARY. 
(1.) Cyrus 


(az) takes Babylon and founds the Medo-Persian 
empire, B.C, 538. 
(b) Allows the Jews to return and rebuild the 
Temple. 
(2.) RETURN UNDER ZERUBBABEL. 
(az) Altar set up. 
(b) Foundations of the Temple laid. 
(c) Adversaries of Judah and Benjamin offer to 
assist, and are repulsed. 
(d) Rebuilding of the Temple stopped. 
'3.) COMPLETION OF THE TEMPLE. 
(a) Haggai and Zechariah urge Zerubbabel to 
build. 
(b) Building commenced, and hindered by the 
adversaries of the Jews. 
(c) Cyrus’ decree found at Achmetha. 
(d) Temple completed, sixth year of Darius, 
B.C O16, 
) SIXTY YEARS SILENCE. 
) ARTAXERXES LONGIMANUS, B.C. 465-424. 
(az) Misson of Ezra, B.c. 458. 
(6) Nehemiah governor B.c. 445——Walls rebuilt. 
(c) Nehemiah and Ezra promulgate the Law. 


(4, 
(5) 


CHAPTER Rs XX, 


THE: GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. 


Palestine, called the Land of Canaan 
in Genesis, and Syria Palestiné by the 
Greeks, is the southern part of the strip 
of cultivated territory along the shores of the Mediterra- 
nean from Asia Minor to the frontiers of Egypt. It has 
always been important as the highway between Egypt 
and the great trade centres of the East. Consequently 
many peoples have struggled to possess the land, and it 
has been inhabited by many different races. From the 
earliest times down to quite recent days Palestine has 
been the scene of great military expeditions and event- 
ful battles. It was the route of such conquerors as 
Sennacherib, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon; and 
in all ages has been regarded as a high-road for armies. 

Palestine is a hilly country with every 
General variety of climate and vegetation. The 
features of the : : : 
Land. valley of the Jordan is tropical; in the 
north and on the coast the land is 
suitable for the cultivation of corn; central Palestine 
is famous for its vineyards; the southern district is 
pastoral rather than agricultural. In the north is the 
snow-capped mountain of Hermon; on the east the 
forests of Bashan and the high pasture lands of Gilead. 
The land is shut in by the range of Lebanon in the 
north, the Mediterranean on the west, and the Desert on 
the south and east. 

A glance at the map will shew how 
rugged and difficult the countryis. From 
Jerusalem to Jericho, for example, a 
distance of seventeen miles, the descent is from about 


Situation of 
Palestine. 


Differences 
in altitude. 


188 BIBLIGAL HISTORY: » ([CH. XXvV. 


2500 feet above sea level to nearly a thousand feet 
below. In Western Palestine the altitude in the southern 
ridge is from 3000 ft. to 2500 ft., and the Maritime 
Plain is reached by a series of passes, many of which 
were scenes of battles. The central district, which 
from the western plain has the appearance of a single 
mountain, is known as Mount Ephraim, and forms a 
plateau a little lower than that of Judah and Benjamin. 
The valley of Esdraelon or Jezreel, through which the 
road to Damascus passes, is broken by hills like the 
Mounts Tabor and Gilboa; and, as it sinks towards 
the Jordan, falls below sea level, the lake of Galilee 
being more than 600 ft., and the Dead Sea 1300 ft., below 
the Mediterranean. 
Throughout their history in Palestine 
EES: the Israelites were mountaineers. On 
features of the : } 5 
Laka their entry into the land they gained 
(a) Mountains; possession of the hills, and it was only 
gradually that they obtained a footing in 
the plains. The Syrians said of them, Their gods are 
gods of the hills. (1 Kings xx. 23.) Nearly every 
Hebrew town can be described as a@ city set on an hill. 
(Matth. v. 14.) The great districts of inland Palestine 
are called Mount Judah, Mount Ephraim, and Mount 
Naphtali. Almost all sanctuaries were situated on 
mountain tops, and Mount Zion is the common designa- 
tion of the Temple. But in Palestine proper the 
height of the hills scarcely gives them the dignity of 
mountains, aS no summit rises much above 3000 ft. 
‘The only real mountains, Lebanon and Hermon, lie 
outside the Israelite territory. But these are every- 
where visible, especially Hermon, which was known as 
Sirion (the breastplate). Its snowy summit is a con- 
spicuous feature, and is seen even from Jerusalem. 
(Ps. xxix. 6.) The strength of Jerusalem consists in its 
being protected by its crags and deep ravines. The 


CH. XXv.] THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. 189 


most noteworthy mountains in Western Palestine are 
Tabor, the rallying place of the northern tribes 
(Deut. xxxiii. 19; Judg. iv. 6); Ebal and Gerizim, the 
scene of the reading of the Law (Josh. viii. 30-35), which 
are north and south of the city of Shechem; and Mount 
Gilboa, the scene of Saul’s defeat by the Philistines. 
(1 Sam. xxxi.). ' 

Syria is intersected by water-courses, 
but few of these are rivers in our sense 
of the word. They are mountain torrents, full during 
the heavy rains but soon dry. The only real river is 
the Jordan, which flows for almost a hundred miles 
below the level of the sea, an unique phenomenon in 
this world. The other rivers of Palestine are rather 
torrents. Such are the Kishon, which flows through 
the plain of Megiddo, a diminutive stream in summer, 
which floods the country in time of rain (Judg. v. 21): 
the Jabbok, after crossing which Jacob wrestled with the 
Angel at Penuel (Gen. xxxii. 22-32); and the Arnon, 
which marked the boundary of Israel and Moab. The 
two latter streams are in Eastern Palestine. 

The most famous valleys are (1) the 
Plain of Megiddo or Esdraelon; (2) the 
Plain of Jordan; (3) the Philistine 
Plain; (4) Sharon. 

(1) The Plain of Megiddo is the rich corn country 
watered by the Kishon and extending from 
the Jordan to Mount Carmel. Part of it, t.e. 
the valley in which the city of Jezreel stood 
on the way down to the Jordan, is below sea 
level. It was the scene of numerous battles in 
the Bible, such as the victory over Sisera 
(Judg. iv.—v.), and the battle of Megiddo, 
where Josiah fell (2 Kings xxiii. 29). 

(2) The plain of Jordan is the deep and narrow 
depression, below sea level, through which 


(b) Rivers, 


(c) Valleys 
and Plains; 


190 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXV. 


the river flows. The climate is tropical; the 
soil, extremely fertile when the rains fall, is 
sterile during the long dry season. ‘The river 
is very winding, and its banks are covered 
by thickets of cane, the hiding places of wild 
beasts. Near the Dead Sea the country 
becomes a desert, which in the Revised Version 
is called the Arabah. 

(3) The Philistine Plain lies along the southern 
coast of Palestine, and gradually rises towards 
the mountains of Judah. It is approached 
from the east by several passes, the possession 
of which was eagerly disputed by the Philistines 
and Israelites. The best known of these were 
at Ajalon and Beth-horon. The country where 
the hills slope down to the plain was known as 
the Shephelah. 

(4) Sharon is the district between the country of 
the Philistines and Mount Carmel. The 
northern part was well wooded, and the 
whole district is famous for its flowers and 
its excellent pasturage. 

(a) Roads and At the present time there are two 
Waeden railways in Palestine; one from Haifa, 
just north of Mount Carmel, which 

crosses the Jordan on the way to Damascus, and the 
other from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Both of these 
shew where the Western Israelite territory was most 
accessible. The road to Damascus follows the course 
of the Kishon and traverses the plain to Jezreel, whence 
it descends to the Jordan by Bethshan, where the 
Philistines took the body of Saul and his sons after 
the battle of Mount Gilboa. (1 Sam. xxxi. 10.) On 
crossing the Jordan it turns northward along the 
Sea of Galilee. The southern line passes through the 
Philistine country, and on reaching the hills almost 


CH. Xxv.] THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. 191 


follows the route the Ark took when it had been 
captured and restored by the Philistines. (1 Sam. 
ve—vit) It skirts Zorah, passes Beth-shemesh and 
Kiriath-jearim, and reaches Jerusalem by the Valley 
of Rephaim, where the Philistines had come up to 
attack David’s new capital. (2 Sam. v. 22.) The 
military history in the Old Testament is seen to 
depend on the passes by which the country was 
approached. The highlands of Benjamin, for example, 
were entered from the west by the pass of Beth- 
horon, and from the east by way of the Valley of 
Achor, Michmash, and Ai. Both in the days of Joshua 
pnd Saul these were the scenes of severe fighting. 
(Josh. vii.—viii.; 1 Sam. xiii-—xiv.) 
Greet ivintone: We take Western Palestine from 
(ai Noothern: north to south. The northern district 
does not play a very important part 
in Old Testament history. It was. occupied by the 
tribes of Asher, Dan, Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar. 
The district is best known to us as Galilee, and 
practically covers the whole of Northern Palestine. 
The name signifies a circuit, and is from the same root 
as Gilgal and Golgotha, meaning ‘to be round’. Galilee 
(Hebrew Galil) is found in Joshua xx. 7, 1 Kings ix. 11, 
Isaiah ix. 1, and 1. Chr. vi. 76. Isaiah calls it Galilee of 
the Gentiles; in 1 Macc. v. 15 it is styled Galilee of the 
aliens (aAAopvAwv), The country is well watered and 
very fertile, producing olives in abundance as well as 
corn. The inhabitants were hardy and courageous. 
Issachar, Naphtali, and Zebulon are in Judges v. 15, 18 
praised for their bravery. The most important towns in 
Upper Galilee were Kedesh-Naphtali, Cabul (1 Kings 
ix. 13), and Abel-beth-Maachah (2 Sam. xx. 15); in 
lower Galilee, Megiddo, Taanach, and Jezreel. The 
tribe of Dan, after having been assigned a territory 
in Central Palestine, made a settlement at the source 


192 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. XXV, 


of the Jordan. (Judg. xviii. 27-31.) Their city was 
the northern boundary of Israel, and was a famous 
sanctuary. In later days it became a Greek city called 
Paneas. _ 
(b) Central: The central district of Palestine was 
the home of the great Joseph tribes, and 
was known in the days of the New Testament as 
Samaria. It extends from the plain of Jezreel or 
Esdraelon to the highlands of Benjamin. It is the 
scene of many of the most important events in Old 
Testament history, and is the very heart of Israelite 
territory. The part assigned to the sons of Joseph, 
Ephraim in the south and Manasseh in the north, is 
exceptionally fertile, the vale of Shechem being 
described as a veritable garden. Corn, olives, and 
vines are the principal products, and this district is 
watered by numerous springs. The vineyards are 
described by Isaiah as the crown of pride of the 
drunkards of Ephraim (Is. xxviii. 1), and the wealth 
of the land is the subject of the eulogy of the poet 
and the denunciation of the prophet. Joseph is spoken 
of by Jacob as a fruitful bough (Gen. xlix. 22), 
and by Moses as the firstling of a bullock (Deut. 
Xxxiii. 17). To the south lay the highlands of 
Benjamin, whose border extended to Jerusalem. Small 
as this tribe was, it was always important, because 
it controlled the passes which led to the Shephelah 
on the west and to Jericho on the east. Shechem, 
the ancient capital of Israel, was in Ephraim, the one 
portion (Sept., @ chosen Shechem) which Jacob gave 
to his beloved son Joseph (Gen. xlviii. 22.) Further 
down the vale of Shechem was Samaria (Shomeron, 
the watch-tower) guarding the maritime plain on which 
it looked. Shiloh, the resting place of the Ark, and 
Bethel, the sanctuary of Jeroboam (1 Kings xii. 29 ff.), 
with sacred associations dating from the remote past, 


CH, Xxv.] THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. “193 


are alone sufficient to shew the importance of the 
inheritance of Joseph. 

Very different to the fertile Mount 
Ephraim is the more desolate district 
which fell to the lot of the liom tribe of Judah. It 
is a country of round and somewhat featureless hills, 
in many places suffering from great want of water, 
and shading off into the desert. One characteristic is 
its numerous caves. But it must not be supposed that 
it is entirely devoid of fertile spots. Hebron, standing 
higher than the rest, was famous for its vineyards, 
and Judah is described by Jacob as washing his 
garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of 
grapes. (Gen. xlix. 11.) The cities are as a rule built 
on hill tops, and were evidently more numerous than 
at present. The springs of water in this district were 
always the subject of keenrivalry. (Gen. xxvi. 19-25; 
and see Josh. xv. 18 ff.; Judg. i. 14 ff.) The wealth of 
its inhabitants consisted in their flocks. (1 Sam. xxv. 2.) 
The southern district, called the South in the English 
Bible, is known in Hebrew as the “Negeb’ or dry 
country. The chief cities were Hebron the ancient 
capital, Bethlehem, Beersheba the southern boundary 
of the land, and Jerusalem. ‘The latter stands on hills 
divided by the valley of Hinnom on the west, of the 
Kedron on the east, and what Josephus calls the 
Tyropceon, or cheese makers’ quarter, in the centre. 
It is surrounded by higher eminences, so that the 
Psalmist can say with justice the mountains are round 
about Jerusalem. (Ps. xxv. 2.) 

As Western Palestine is divided into 
Mount Naphtali, Mount Ephraim, and 
Mount Judah, so the east is called Mount Gilead. This 
forms the frontier of the desert, and the tribe of Gad, 
who dwelt there, were renowned warriors. The 
country is a plateau broken by watercourses, like Judah, 


(c) Southern; 


(d) Eastern. 


Q 


194 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. xxv. 


but far more fertile. The chief towns of Gilead were. 
Mahanaim, Succoth, Penuel, Jabesh-Gilead, and Ramoth- 
Gilead. The southern part of the country extending to\ 
the Arnon was assigned by Moses to Reuben; but the 
territory of this tribe formed a debateable land alternately 
Israelite and Moabite. The rivers of Gilead are the 
Hieromiax (not mentioned in the Bible), the Jabbok, and 
~ Arnon, the two former flowing into the Jordan and the 
last-named into the Dead Sea. North of Gilead is 
Bashan, the kingdom of Og, conquered by the Manas- 
sites. The district was renowned for its oak forests, 
and its celebrated cattle. The chief town was Edrei. 
The Israelites shared the ‘territory 
Nations they occupied with the Canaanites. These 
pata were reckoned as seven nations, though 
(a) Canaanites, both their names and number vary. The 
Amorites, &c.; ™most important were the Canaanites and 
the Amorites. ‘The last-named are gen- 
erally connected in the Bible with the east and south. 
Their name implies that they lived on the mountains, 
while the Canaanites inhabited the plains. The 
Canaanites inhabited the lands along the coast of the 
Mediterranean, and their great cities were Tyre and 
Zidon. ‘They were known to the Greeks as Phcenicians, 
and were akin to the Carthaginians, whom the Romans 
call Peeni. In the days of the Judges the Canaanites, 
having horses and chariots, kept the Israelites confined 
to the mountains. 

South of the Canaanites was the 
country of the bold and enterprising 
Philistines, who, like the Israelites, were not natives of 
Palestine, but immigrants. Amos says they came from 
Caphtor. (Amos ix. 7.) They had five great cities: 
Ashdod, Askelon, Gaza, Gath, and Ekron. They were 
organised as a confederacy under five lords. Their god, 
Dagon, is supposed by some to be a fish deity ; but the 


 (b) Philistines; 


CH. Xxv.] THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. 195 


more prevalent theory is that he was really a patron of 
agriculture, and that his name means not ‘fish’, but 
‘corn’. The Philistines were more probably farmers than 
fishermen and sailors. ‘Their sea coast towns, like 
Askelon, were not good harbours. 

Some of the surrounding nations, like 
Moab and Ammon on the south-east, 
were akin to Israel; these two tribes 
claiming descent from Lot, the nephew of Abraham. 
Moab proper was a very small district south of the Arnon, 
but though part is desert there are very fertile spots in it, 
and it may well have supported a large population. The 
Moabites advanced north of the Arnon, where many of 
their towns were situated. The Ammonites’ territory was 
probably east of Moab and bordered on the deserts. 

Israel’s brother was Esau or Edom, 
who gave his name to the territory south 
of the Dead Sea. The Land of Edom stretched from 
the Dead Sea to the eastern branch of the Red Sea, 
and was also known as Mount Seir. Its capital was 
Sela, better known as Petra, the wonderful rock city, 
much of which is literally carved out of the living rock. 
The Edomites were a fierce tribe, and after the Captivity 
the bitterest enemies of Israel. They encroached on 
the tribe of Judah from the south and almost pushed as 
far north as Jerusalem. In New Testament times the 
country south of Judea was known as Idumea or Edom. 

The Syrians or Aramcans were akin’ 
to Israel, and their earliest home was 
Haran (Gen. xi. 31; xxiv. 10), or according to Amos, 
Kir. (Amos ix. 7.) Mesopotamia in Hebrew is called 
“Aram of the Two Rivers’. ‘There are several Syrian 
tribes mentioned in the Bible, but in the books of Kings 
the Syrians are those of Damascus. These were for 
centuries the chief rivals of Israel after its disruption 
from Judah, 


(c) Moab and 
Ammon 3 


(d) Edom; 


(e) Syria. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


LIGHT THROWN ON THE HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS 
BY RECENT. DISCOVERIES. 


The great subject of the illustration of facts recorded 
in the Bible by the revelation of the monuments of 
antiquity can only be dealt with in such a manner as 
to give the student a glimpse of what has been done 
in recent years. 

EGYPT. 


From Egypt itself we learn something of the relations 
of Israel with the venerable civilization of the country. 

There is an inscription with pictures 
in the tombs of Beni-Hassan belonging to 
the twelfth dynasty, shewing how a tribe 
of Arabs with presents visited an Egyptian governor, 
as the sons of Jacob visited Joseph. This, however, 
was more than a thousand years before the days of 


Jacob. 


Tel-el Amarna. 


Tombps of Beni- 
Hassan. 


Amen-hotep IV., a_ king of the 
eighteenth dynasty, married a Mesopo- 
tamian princess and adopted her. religion. He built 
a city, which was destroyed after his death. In 1887 
it was discovered that the place contained a number 
of clay tablets written in the Babylonian wedge-shaped 
characters. These refer to the state of Palestine, 
which was then under Egyptian control. There are 
letters from Tyre, Sidon, Lachish, Askelon, Gaza, and 
Jerusalem. The last-named place is called Uru-salim. 
The country at this time, in the fifteenth century B.Cc., 
was being invaded by the Chabiri (confederates). Some 
suppose these were Hebrews, 


CH. XXVI, | RECENT DISCOVERIES, 197 


From the fact that the Israelites 
built the store cities Pithom and 
Raamses, it has been supposed that Rameses II., who 
reigned for sixty-seven years in the thirteenth century 
B.C., was the Pharaoh of the Oppression. The site of 
Pithum has been discovered near Tel-el-Kebir. It was 
built to contain great granaries for corn. It is said that 
some of the bricks were made without straw. (Ex. v. 10.) 

The Pharaoh of the Exodus is thought 
to be Meremptah II., the son and 
successor of Rameses II. He engaged 
in a war with Syria, and on the stele or column erected 
by him the Israelites are mentioned. This ‘is the 
earliest mention of them on any monument—about 
1200 B.c. or earlier. 

Shishak. The first king of Egypt mentioned by 

name in the Bible is Shishak, who 
invaded Judah in the fifth year of Rehoboam. (1 Kings 
xiv. 25-28.) He plundered the Temple at Jerusalem ; 
but though he mentions various cities in Palestine as 
taken by him, he does not refer to this incident on 
his inscription. 


Rameses I], 


Etele of 
Meremptah. 


BABYLONIA. 


By Babylonia is meant the country between the 
Tigris and Euphrates, just to the north of the Persian 
Gulf. The Hebrews called it the land of Shinar. 
(Gen. xi. 2.) Here was a civilization as old as that 
of Egypt. Its records were in a language somewhat 
akin to Hebrew, written in cuneiform or wedge- 
shaped characters on bricks, an immense number of 
which have been found and deciphered. 

At Nineveh the account of the Creation 
was found in the library of Asshur-bani- 
pal, king of Assyria (B.C. 668-626). These 
are copies of very much earlier tablets, probably about 
2000 B.c. They relate how the world was made after a 


Creation 
Tablets. 


r 


198 BIBLICAL HISTORY. [CH. xxvt. 


long strife between the gods and the Great Deep (Tiamat, 
Hebrew Tehom). When Marduk, or Merodach, 
conquers Tiamat he creates the world. There is a 
second account of creation, discovered at Sippara in 
Babylonia, A.D. 1882. 
The Flood. The Babylonian stories of both the 
Flood and the Creation bear very 
striking resemblance to the narratives in Genesis. The 
Flood story relates how Gilgamesh was saved in a ship. 
Like Noah, he sent forth a raven and a dove, but also a 
swallow,and offered sacrifice when he came out of the ark. 


ASSYRIA. 

The Assyrians lived to the north of Babylonia, and 
their capital was Nineveh on the river Tigris. They first 
came into contact with Israel in the ninth century B.C. 
They used the cuneiform character of the Babylonians, 
and mention many of the kings of Israel and Judah. 

In the British Museum there are two 
inscriptions of Shalmaneser II., king 
of Assyria. One tells how the king of 
Damascus, with his allies, among whom was Ahab, 
was defeated in B.c. 854. The other (the Black 
Obelisk) shews the envoys of Jehu the “son of Omri’ 
making offerings as subjects of Shalmaneser. 

The later kings of Israel (Menahem, 
Pekah, and Hoshea) are mentioned in 
Assyrian inscriptions, and Sargon II. relates how 
Samaria was taken in B.C. 722. Only twenty - eight 
thousand people were taken captive on this occasion. 

The story of Sennacherib, the son of 
Sargon, invading Judah is found on the 
Taylor Cylinder, now in the British 
Museum. ‘This king says that he took 200,000 people 
of Judah captive and shut Hezekiah in his city “like 
a bird inacage”. Hezekiah paid an immense ransom, 


Mentionof Ahab 
and Jehu. 


Fall of Samaria. 


Expedition of 
Sennacherib. 


CH. XXVI. | RECENT DISCOVERIES. 199 


but Jerusalem was not taken. This invasion took place 
B.c.-/01. 
DISCOVERIES IN PALESTINE. 


Remarkably few traces of the Israelites have been 
found in Palestine, though the excavations throw 
much light on the history of the Bible. 

WORM Aton The Moabite Stone was discovered 

in 1868, and is an inscription made by 
Mesha (2 Kings iii. 4-5) to commemorate his victories 
over Israel. He says that as long as Omri reigned 
Israel oppressed Moab, but in the days .of his son, 
Chemosh, the god of Moab, saved the nation and 
enabled Mesha to recapture the Moabite cities. The 
language is Hebrew and resembles that of the books 
of Kings. 

The Siloam inscription describes the 
making of a tunnel to bring water into 
Jerusalem, probably in the days of 
Hezekiah. (2 Kings xx. 20; 2 Chron. xxxii. 30.) It 
is written in antique Hebrew characters like the Moabite 
Stone. 


Siloam 
Inscription. 


The site of Gezer, a city nineteen miles 
north-west of Jerusalem, was discovered 
in 1874, and excavations have been going on there 
since 1902. It was the place which Pharaoh gave 
to Solomon as the marriage portion of his daughter. 
(1 Kings ix. 16.) The remains of no less than seven 
cities have been discovered; the earliest certainly 
older than 2000 B.c. The high place and the pillars 
found here illustrate the worship of the Canaanite 
period, and there are' undoubted traces of human 
sacrifices. Images of Ashtoreth have been discovered, 
and there are signs of Egyptian occupation. 

The walls of Jericho have been dis- 
covered, and it seems evident that when 
the Canaanite city fell. it lav desolate for a considerable 


Gezer. 


Jericho, 


| 


200 BIBLICAL HISTORY. (CH. XXVI. 


period before another town was built on its ruins. 
This confirms the Biblical story that the city was 
destroyed by Joshua and not rebuilt before the days 
of Ahab. 
Peet! Taanach near Megiddo has been the 
scene of the most recent excavation, and, 
tike Gezer, is full of indications of Canaanite idolatry. 
The worship of Ishtar was practised here. A most 
interesting incense altar has been discovered, with 
heads carved on it which are supposed to represent 
Cherubim. Here also there are several indications 


of human sacrifice. 


THE PAPYRI FOUND AT ELEPHANTINE. 


Much light has been thrown on Jewish life in Egypt 
in the fifth century B.C. by the discovery of a number of 
family papers at Elephantine on the first cataract of the 
Nile. These are dated carefully, the earliest B.c. 471 , 
and the latest 411. We learn that the Jews had a 
temple in Upper Egypt, which was spared when 
Cambyses destroyed the native temples in B.c. 525. 
The sons of Sanballat, the enemy of Nehemiah, are 
mentioned, as is also the Jewish High Priest, Jehohanan. 


Lee) 


LABEL ES. 


ae Te ae 


THE DESCENDANTS OF TERAH AND ABRAHAM. 
FESTIVALS. 

SACRIFICES. 

IKKINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH. 

IMPORTANT PRIESTS AND PROPHETS. 


DATES IN ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN, AND 


PERSIAN HISTORY. 











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BERG ATS S 


PABUE SIT: 


THE CHIEF FESTIVALS AND HOLY SEASONS. 


The civil year began in the autumn, the religious in the spring. 
The months, when numbered, are calculated from the first of the 
religious year. The three great festivals are—Passover, in the first 
month; Weeks, in the third; Tabernacles, in the seventh. 


I. The Passover is connected with the Feast of Un- 
leavened Bread. It consisted of a family sacrifice 
of a lamb or a kid, which was eaten by each household 
to commemorate the coming forth from Egypt. The 
laws of the Passover are to be found in Ex. xii. 1-51; 
xiii. 3-10; xxiii. 14-19; xxxiv. 18-26; Numb. ix. 1-14; 
xxviii. 16f.; Deut. xvi. 1-6. The Feast of Unleavened 
Bread marked the commencement of the wheat harvest. 
(Lev. xxiii. 4-14.) 


Il. The Feast of Weeks, called Pentecost (Acts ii. 1), was 
seven weeks or fifty days after the Passover (Ex. xxxiv. 
22; Lev. xxiii. 15; Deut.xvi.10.) The Feast of Weeks 
marked the conclusion of the harvest. In later Judaism 
it celebrated the giving of the Law. 


III. The seventh month is the holy month in the calendar. 
It is marked by three holy days :— 

(a) The Feast of Trumpets, or the New Year. (Lev. 
xxili, 24.) 

(b) The Day of Atonement. (Lev, xvi. 1-34; xxiii. 
27-321) 

(c) The Feast of Tabernacles, (Ex. xxiii. 16; Lev. 
xxili, 34-36, 39-43; Numb. xxix. 12-31; Deut. 
xvi, 13-15; xxxi. 10-13.) 


At the Feast of Tabernacles, or booths, the people dwelt in 
booths to commemorate the sojourning in the Wilderness. It is 
also called the Feast of Ingathering, because it was at the end 
of the vintage. 


The sacred seasons were regulated by the number seven: 
the seventh day (Sabbath), seventh month, seventh year 
(Sabbatical, Ex. xxiii. 10-11; Lev. xxv. 2-7; Deut. xv. 1-18); 
seventh seventh year (Jubilee, Lev. xxv. 8-16, 23-55; xxvii. 
16-25). 


PABLEVILE 


SACRIFICES, ETC. 


There were five different kinds of sacrifices offered by the 
Hebrews: Peace offerings, Burnt offerings, Sin offerings, 
Trespass offerings, and Meat (R.V. Meal) offerings. 


y 


fia ane 


As some of these are alluded to in the New Testament, it is 
very important to understand their significance. The main idea 
in a Peace offering was that of communion; part of the sacrifice 
was burned and the rest eaten by the sacrificer. God therefore in 
a sense joined inthe sacrifice. In the Pentateuch the LXX translate 
it @Pvola cwrnpiov. 


The Burnt offering was a sacrifice of dedication. The whole 
victim was burned on the altar. Such was the ‘daily sacrifice’. 
When Peace offerings were made a Burnt offering was often an 
accompaniment. 


Sin offerings implied that the relation between God and the 
worshipper was broken by sin or by ceremonial uncleanness, and 
needed renewal. The blood was smeared on the horns of the 
altar. Such were the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement. The’ 
LXX translate it by wept duaptias or duapria. (See 2 Cor. v. 21.) 


Trespass offerings are like Sin offerings, except that they 
always included the idea of making restitution or payment for the 
wrong done. 


The Meat offering was the unbloody sacrifice. It was an 
offering like corn, oil, salt, and incense. It was never made with 
a Sin offering, but always with a Peace offering, 


TABLE IV. 


KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH. 


Judah. Kings of All Israel. Israel. 
Saul 
David at Hebron, Ishbosheth at 
7 years Mahanaim, 7 years 


David, 33 years 
Solomon, 40 years 


Judah. Israel. 
Rehoboam, 17 years Jeroboam, 26 years 
Abijam, 3 years 
Asa, 41 years Nadab, 2 years 


Baasha, 24 years 
Elah, 2 years } 
Zimri, 7 days 
Omri, 12 years 


Jehoshaphat, 25 years Ahab, 22 years House of 
Ahaziah, 2 years Omri 
Joram, 8 years Jehoram, 12 years 


Ahaziah, 1 year 
Athaliah (Queen) began toreign Jehu, 28 years 


same year as Jehu. 7 years Jehoahaz, 17 years House 
Joash, 40 years Jehoash, 16 years of 
Amaziah, 29 years Jeroboam II., 41 years Jehu 


Azariah (or Uzziah), 52 years Zechariah, 6 months 
Shallum, 1 month 
Menahem, 10 years 


Jotham, 16 years Pekahiah, 2 years 
Ahaz, 16 years Pekah, 20 years 
Hezekiah, 29 years Hoshea, 9 years 
(Fall of Samaria, (Samaria taken B.C. 722 
6th year of Hezekiah) 
Manasseh, 55 years ; 


Amon, 2 years 
Josiah, 31 years 
Jehoahaz, 3 months 
Jehoiakim, 11 years 
Jehoiachin, 3 months 

(The Captivity begins) 
Zedekiah, 11 years 

(Jerusalem taken 

and destroyed) 


This chronology presents many difficulties, but the following points may be 
~ noted. Jeroboam and Rehoboam presumably began to reign in the same year; 

and when Jehu and Athaliah destroyed the houses of Ahab and David, their first 
regnal yearisthesame. Yet there is a discrepancy in the duration of the total 
reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel from Rehoboam and Jeroboam to the 
death of Jehoram and Ahaziah. and a far more serious one between Jehu and 
Athaliah and the fall of Samaria. According to the reckoning of Judah,. 260 
years elapsed between the death of Solomon and the fall of Samaria, B.c. 722; 
consequently the former event was about B.c. 983.. For Assyrian dates see 
Table VI. 


TABLE V. 


~~ 


PRIESES CAND (PROPHETS. 


Josephus has given a list of High Priests, most of whom, but not 


all, are from the Old Testament. 


Here, however, it will be 


sufficient to give the kings, with the most important priests and 
prophets mentioned in connection with them. 

















King. Priests. Prophets. 
Saul Ahijah Samuel 
(1 Sam. xiv. 3) 
Ahimelech 
(1 Sam. xxii. 9) 
David Zadok and Nathan; Gad 
Abiathar 
Solomon Zadok 
Judah, Israel. 
Rehoboam SLOWER LS ARVIN aioe tL tere Shemaiah 
Jeroboam coe Ahijah 
Baasha es Jehu the son of 
Hanani 
Ahab + bee Elijah ; Micaiah 
Jehoram to 
Joash | ... oa Elisha 
Joash, See ... | Jehoiada 
Zechariah 
Jeroboam II. she Jonah of Gath- 
hepher ; 
Amos 
Successors of 
Jeroboam IT,} ... zh .. | Hosea 
Ahaz : 7) Ue) Wrhjah | Isaiah 
Hezekiah tae ei ae .. | Isaiah; Micah 
Josiah non Hilkiah Nahum ; 
Habakkuk ; 
Jeremiah ; 
Obadiah 
Jehoiakim | 
and successors| ... Seraiah | Zephaniah 
Captivity ave : Pace ted. 
Deutero-Isaiah 
(Is. xl.—lxvi.) 
Return Joshua Haggai ; 
Zechariah 
Days of Ezra and Nehemiah ! Eliashib Malachi 


TABLE (VI. 


LEADING DATES IN ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN AND 
PERSIAN HISTORY, 


Assyrian Date 


Ahab and his allies defeated de iB Coppo + 
Jehu pays tribute to Shalmaneser IT. ... B.c. 842 


Fall oti Samaria \)... Oe Bas Ae BEC oe 
Accession of Sennacherib ... ite 3 SBN OD 
Invasion of Judah by Sennacherib A ECOL 
Fall of Nineveh ... se (circa) B.C. 606 


Babylonian Dates. 


Accession of Nebuchadrezzar__... bas (UB aoe 
Fall of Jerusalem ... oe aN eel) Bae 


» Persian Dates. 


Accession of Cyrus... cee ee 3. BCuse 
Cambyses. ... af os re mney Bakes Gel co taser 
Darius Hystaspis ©... i. 43 .. B.C. 521—486 
Temple at Jerusalem finished cos ESE MEN E88 ot bor? Ha 
Xerxes (Ahasuerus) 14 ne ws ~=B.C. 486—465 
Artaxerxes Longimanus ... AAs ee B.C. 465-—424 
Ezra comes to Jerusalem ... Sy Joi BG. 458 
Nehemiah appointed aN ales 2 B.C. 444 


Nehemiah’s second visit ... aes it URCUAZS 


INDEX. 


Aaron 28 f. 

Abiathar, High Priest 88 

Abijah 126 

Abimelech, king of Gerar 8 

Abimelech, son of Gidcon 66 

Abner 95, 97, 98 

Abraham 7f. 

Absalom 106-110 

Achan 55 

Adonijah 112 

Ahab 129f. 

Ahasuerus 176 

Abaz-155f, 

Ahijah 118, 124 

Pie 555 

Amalekites 35, &5 

Amaziah 151 

Ammonites 80, 102, 153, 195 

Amorites, five kings of 56 

Amos 148 

Ark of the Covenant 
76, 101 

Asa 127 

Assyria 149, 155f. 198 

Athaliah 150 

Azariah (Uzziah) 142 


42.54, 73, 


Baal 129f. 
Baal-berith 66 
Baasha 124 

Babel or Babylon 6G 
Babylonia 1 
Balaam 48 

Barak 64 
Benhadad 156f. 
Benjamites 63 


Cain and Abel 2 

Caleb 45, 57 

Cambyses 200 

Canaan, son of Ham 5 

Captivity: of Israel, 157; 
Judah, 175f. 

Carchemish 169 

Chedorlaomer 9 

Creation, accounts of 1, 197 

Cyrus 178 


of 


Daniel 176 
Danites 63 


Darius Hystaspis 180 
Dathan and Abiram 46 
David 83 f. 

Deborah, prophetess 64 
Deuteronomy, Book of 168 


Edom 195 

Egypt: Abraham in, 7; Josepn 
in, 22f.; Israel in, 22-29 

Eleazar, son of Aaron 47 

Eli 731. 

Eliashib 184 

Elijah 129f. 

Elisha 132, 140f. 

Ephraimites 65 

Esarhaddon 180 

Esau 15f. 

Esther 176 

Ezekiel 175 

Ezra 181. 


Feasts, laws of 38, 204 
Flood, accounts of 4{., 198 


Gedaliah 175 

Geography 5, 187f. 
Gibeonites 56, 98, 103 
Gideon 65 

Gilboa, Mt. 91 

Gilgal, Joshua's camp at 54 
Golden Calf 40 


Haggai 180 

Hazael 143, 151 
Hebron 8, 63, 97, 99 
Hezekiah 159f. 
Hittites 12, 17, 105 
Hosea (prophet) 149 
Hoshea (king) 149 


Isaac: 10, 15 f. 
Isaiah 156 
Ishbosheth 95,98 
Ishmael 10, 11 


Jabesh-Gilead 80, 91 
Jacob 15f. 
Jehoiachin 170 
Jehoiada (priest) 171 


| Jehoiakim 170 


|} Jehonadab, son of Rechab 144 


P 


210 


w% 


Jehoram (= Joram), king of 
Israel 144 

Jehoram., king of Judah 144 

Jehoshaphat 128, 138 

Jehu 143f. 

Jephthah 62 

Jeremiah 170-175 

Jericho 54f., 199 

jJeroboam I. 118, 121-124 

Jeroboam II. 148 

Jerusalem 100, 174 

Jezebel 129f., 144 

Jezreel 131, 132, 144 

Joab 97, 100, 110. 113 

Joash, king of Judah 150 

Joash, king of Israel 147 

Jonathan 82, 87 

Joseph 22f. 

Joshua 41, 53f. 

Josiah 168f. 

Jotham (son of Gideon) 67 

Jotham (king) 153 

Judah, kingdom of 
150 €.24ch xxi Rx. 


126:1:; 


Kadesh 45 
Kenites 42, 64 
Korah 46 


Lamech 3 

Laws of Book of Covenant 33 
Law, reading of 184 

Lot 8, 11 


Manasseh, king 167 

Manassites 65 

Micah of Mount Ephraim, 
70 

Micah, prophet 1£9 

Michmash 82 

Midianites 23, 49, 65 

Miriam 32 

Moabite Stone 199 

Moses 27f. 


Nabal 89 
Nebuchadrezzar 170f. 
Nehemiah 182f. 


Omri 125 
Othniel 63 


a ce i a 


INDEX. 


Passover 29, 54, 162 

Pekah 149 

Pharaoh (Joseph’s) 24 

Pharaoh of the Oppression 27, 
197 

Philistines 68, 76, 82, 91, 100, 
194 


Qarqara (Karkar) 139 


Rameses II, 27, 197 
Rechabites 171 

Rehoboam 121, 126 

Return from Captivity 178 f£. 
Reuben and Gad 49 

Rezon, king of Syria 119 
Ruth 70 


Sacrifice, laws of 205 
Samaria 125, 143, 157 
Samaritans 157, 180 
Samson 68 f. 

Samuel 74f. 
Sanballat 183 
Sargon 160 

Saul 78 f. 
Sennacherib 161-166, 198 
Shiloh 58, 73 
Shishak 126, 197 
Sisera 64 

Solomon 112-119 
Syrians 136, 142, 145 


Tabernacle 40 

Tel-el-Amarna tablets 196 

Temple, Solomon’s 116f. 

Temple, Second 179f. 

Ten Words, the (= Command- 
ments) 37 

Tyre 161 


Uzziah 152 
Wilderness, Israel in 32-46 
Xerxes 176 


Zadok (priest) 112 

Zedekiah, king of Judah 173 f. 
Zerubbabel 179 f, 

Ziklag 90, 96 

Zion 99 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 


THE BIBLICAL HISTORY OF THE HEBREWS. 
Third ed tion (enlarged), with maps, cr. 8vo, cloth, 
pp. lxiv + 421. 6s. net 


Note to Third Edition.—The notes in this edition have been 
carefully revised and enlarged so as to meet the results of the 
most recent scholarship. A short analysis of the historical and 
prophetical books of the Old Testament has been added to the 
Introduction, and three maps, of Palestine, Northern Egypt, and 
the Wilderness of Sinai, as well as a sketch plan of Jerusalem, 
have been specially prepared for this volume. 


The work is primarily intended for students in Theology, but 
the author hopes that it may be of interest to a wider public. He 
has endeavoured to tell the story of Israel from a Biblical stand- 
point, in such a way as to bring into relief the progressive character 
of God’s revelation to His chosen people. If, especially in the 
earlier chapters, narratives once universally accepted as literally 
true are related with somewhat less confidence than was customary 
at one time, the reader may be reminded that in the author’s 
opinion this does not detract from their spiritual value, and that 
the interest of Israel’s history grows with our increasing know- 
jedge as the end of the Old Dispensation is approached. It is not 
what Israel originally was, but what it became, that makes its 
‘story of such supreme importance.—Extract from Preface. 


PRESS NOTICES. 


**It may be that Canon Foakes-Jackson has a peculiar gift for 
the writing of history, but certainly this is a history which can be 
«depended upon for the most recent scholarship, and yet may be 
read with unruffled conscience.’’—Expository Times. 


“It tells with patient and conscientious erudition what can be 
Jearned from the Bible concerning the early history of the Jews.”’ 
--Scotsman. 


‘‘A well written history.’’—Times. 


‘* Instead of being the dullest hour in the week, the Divinity 
jesson ought to be one of the most interesting to the teacher who 
makes an intelligent use of this work.'’—Daily News. 


‘**Canon Foakes-Jackson’s work is full and detailed, and 
nothing is overlooked.’’—Daily Chronicle. 


‘*Scholarly, open-minded and reverent, Mr. Foakes-Jackson is 
the type of teacher to which thoughtful men are waiting to listen.’ 
—Methodist Times. 


** Canon Foakes-Jackson writes with the ease and charm of a 
‘skilled literary artist, and presents his facts and conclusions in the 
most attractive form.’’—Baptist Magazine. 


Cambridge: W. HEFFER AND SONS LTD. 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 


CHRISTIAN DIFFICULTIES IN THE SECOND AND 
TWENTIETH CENTURIES. A Study of Marcion 
and his Relation to Modern Thought. The Hulsean. 
Lectures (1902-1903). 3s. 6d. net. 


In these lectures it has been my object not so much to give an 
historical account of a particular form of Gnosticism as to discuss: 
the religious problems of to-day by the light of those of the second. 
century of our era.—Extract from Preface. 


Press NOTICES. 


**It is as living and instructive a book as the month has pro-- 
duced.’’—Expository Times. 


** It is at once so terse and so full of helpful ideas that it should 
be read in its entirety by all those who are interested in the topics. 
here presented.'’—Daily News. 


‘It is as significant as it is gratifying, that the Hulsean Lectures. 
for this year form a Strong and manly contention for the historic 
faith. . . . The Lecturer chosen by Cambridge University for 
ats present year has a firm grasp of the difference between essentials. 
and non-essentials of the faith.''—Methodist Times. 


Cambridge: W. HEFFER AND Sons LTp. 


OUTLINES OF CHURCH HISTORY from the Earliest: 
Times to the Death of Leo the Great, A.D. 4614. 
Fifth Edition, Thoroughly Revised and Enlarged, 
with an additional Chapter and three maps, and an 
Appendix on the Catacombs of Rome by Rev. A. C. 
JenninGs, M.A. Cr. 8vo. 8s. net: 


Press NOTICE, 


**A man who has written a History of the Christian Church 
for students that has reached the fifth edition may confidently say 
of himself that he has shaped the theological thinking of his time. 
That man is Canon Foakes-Jackson of Cambridge. The new 
edition contains an additional chapter on * Christianity beyond the: 
Limits of the Roman Empire,’ and three maps. The book is. 
again thoroughly abreast of the scholarship of the day; and if 
Canon Foakes-Jackson keeps it so, we have no doubt whatever 
that its circulation in the future will be even more rapid than in 
the past. For on every hand there is evidence that the student of 
the Church is tired of the Church history that is only the: 
apologetic of a party. Canon Foakes-Jackson is not an apologist,. 
hut a historian.’’—The Expository Times. 


Cambridge: J. HALL AND SON. 


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